Health and medicine · selection

Nursing assistant: a file, an interview, then five blocks to validate

The competitive exam is gone, the selection is not. A graded file and a 15 to 20-minute interview decide your place, not a recited course.

Selection: File + 15 to 20-min interview
Length: 1,540 h, 44 weeks, 770 h of placement
Validation: 5 blocks, 10/20 minimum per block

Study for free See the method

What you need to understand.

The real format of the exam, and what actually decides it.

Entry to a nursing-assistant training institute (IFAS) comes down to a file and a 15 to 20-minute interview. There is no longer a national written paper or an eliminatory mark, and no diploma is required. The training lasts ten months, i.e. 1,540 hours over 44 weeks, including 770 hours of placement, and is validated in five blocks, with no final exam.

What decides is the file: a handwritten cover letter, a CV, school reports, work certificates. It is graded together with the interview, before a practising nursing assistant and a trainer. Then everything is decided on placement: beyond 5% absences over the total length of the training, access to certification is closed.

What is assessed, from application to diploma

The format and weight of each paper, without the noise around it.

Selection · Application file

Handwritten cover letter, CV, school reports, diplomas, work certificates · Graded with the interview, no public mark

A readable background, experience helping people, a project that holds up.

Selection · 15 to 20-min interview

Individual or group, with at least 10 minutes of speaking per candidate in a group · Determines admission together with the file

Motivation, interpersonal qualities, knowledge of the job, a ten-month project.

Selection · Handwritten document

About ten lines written on site, if you don't have the bac and are not in your final year · Complements the file

Correct written French, a lived situation told simply.

Training · Blocks 1 to 5 at the institute

Case studies, simulated practice, hygiene assessment · 10/20 minimum per block, compensation between modules from 8/20

Reasoning, the order of gestures, hygiene rules and traceability.

Training · Placement assessments

4 periods, 770 h, including a final 7-week placement that cannot be split · Condition for validating each block

Autonomy, safety, posture towards the person being cared for, teamwork.

The calendar.

The dates that matter, with their status.

Mar 20, 2027
Opening of file submissions (September 2027 intake)
National rule: submission from 20 March to 15 June for a start of term at the end of August to September. 2027 calendar not published to date by the IFAS.
Jun 15, 2027
Closing of submissions
Date set by the decree of 7 April 2020. Each institute publishes its places and the interview arrangements before that date.
spring-summer 2027
Selection interviews
Dates set by the institute or grouping, not published as of 28 October 2026. To be confirmed IFAS by IFAS.
before the 2027 intake
Results and confirmation
Main and complementary lists published by the institute. 2 working days to confirm your place, against 7 previously (decree of 7 April 2020).
September 2027, or January to March depending on the IFAS
Start of term
Two intake periods provided for by the reference framework. Outside late August-September, submission dates are set with the ARS.

Dates checked on October 28, 2026. Any date that hasn’t been published is flagged as such.

What actually blocks you.

The obstacles that cost you points, not the clichés.

Reciting a course instead of defending a project

Fifteen to twenty minutes before a practising nursing assistant and a nurse trainer or health manager. The jury looks for a held project and a posture, not a lesson. The decree of 29 April 2026 also allows a group interview, with at least ten minutes of speaking per candidate.

Preparing the interview without polishing the file

Handwritten letter, CV, school reports, certificates: the file is graded at the same time as the interview. If you don't have the bac and are not in your final year, you also write about ten lines on site, on the day.

Treating the placement as a formality

770 hours in four periods of 5, 5, 5 and 7 weeks, assessed by the tutor. The final 7-week placement cannot be split; a block not validated on placement requires a catch-up period.

Exceeding 5% absences over the training

Attendance is compulsory at the institute and on placement. Absences cannot exceed 5% of the total length of the training: beyond that, access to certification is closed.

The method, in 3 steps.

A course goes in. Ready-made materials come out. You study.

01
Break each block into situations
Take a block from the reference framework and write, for each situation, what you observe, what you do and what you record. That is the shape of the case studies. Start with the block assessed first at your institute.
02
Write three accounts before submitting
A care situation you experienced, your view of the job, your ten-month project. Three ten-line texts, rehearsed out loud without notes: they also feed the cover letter.
03
Keep a placement notebook
After each period, note what the tutor corrected and link it to the relevant block. These remarks complement the courses for the next assessment.

What Summry does for this exam.

Study materials, not a promise you’ll pass.

One binder per block

Import the courses of a single block, as PDF, photos of notes or Word: you get study sheets and quizzes sorted by block, since validation is block by block.

Quizzes on hygiene and traceability

Generate questions from the hygiene course and redo them before a case study. You spot the rules you still confuse.

The chat to find the exact rule

Question your sheets: the answer comes only from your documents, hygiene or traceability rule included.

Placement notes, cleaned up

Photograph the notes taken during the 770 hours of placement: they become sheets to review before the tutor's assessment.

Summry does not replace the 770 hours of placement, the interview before the pair of examiners, or the handwritten document: it helps you revise the five blocks, but posture and writing are worked on without it, in the field.

Frequently asked questions.

The questions we get asked most often about Nursing assistant (DEAS, state diploma).

Do you need the bac to enter an IFAS?

No. No diploma is required: you can apply from the age of 17 on the date of entry. The bac or enrolment in the final year only exempts you from the handwritten document provided for by the decree of 7 April 2020. If your background does not allow your French to be assessed, a B2 level certificate may be requested.

Does the nursing-assistant competitive exam still exist?

No. Since the decree of 7 April 2020, selection consists of a file and a 15 to 20-minute interview, graded by a practising nursing assistant and a nurse trainer or health manager. There is no longer a national written paper or an eliminatory mark. Each institute or grouping organises its selection, in agreement with the regional health agency (ARS).

When should you submit your file for 2027?

For a start of term from late August to September, submissions run from 20 March to 15 June 2027. These are national bounds; each IFAS publishes its places and the interview arrangements. In 2024, DREES counted 55,924 candidates through selection for 34,901 admitted: those are not places, and a candidate can submit several files.

How is the training validated if a block is failed?

Five blocks, assessed at the institute and on placement: you need 10/20 minimum per block, with module marks compensating from 8/20. You keep one resit session per enrolment year, up to two sessions, and the best mark is kept. If you fail, you can re-enrol for the blocks not validated only: marks equal to or above 10 are kept.

Can you obtain the DEAS through validation of prior experience (VAE)?

Yes, with one year of experience, i.e. 1,607 hours full-time, covering the five areas of activity in the reference framework. The admissibility file is processed by the regional prefecture, which replies within two months; the decision is valid for three years. The jury then examines a portfolio and an interview, and can validate all or part of the diploma.

Sources.

Information gathered from official websites, checked on October 28, 2026. The links open the original source.

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