The ECUS exam

The ECUS exam concerns applicants to Bachelor’s programs or the DEFLE program, and who hold a foreign diploma for successful completion of upper-secondary studies recognized by the University of Geneva of a country that did not signed or ratified the Lisbon Convention or is not member of the Council of Europe.

Successfully passing the ECUS exam is a condition for entering the University. A second failure invalidates the applicant’s eligibility.

Applicants subject to this exam are informed by postal mail after examination of their enrollment application. Instructions for registering for the ECUS exam are provided at that point.

Registration fees : CHF 870.-

2024 Schedule

  • Written exams: 7-9 August 2024
  • Oral exams: 12-15 August 2024

Content of the exam

  • Four required subjects: French (written and oral), mathematics (written and oral), English (written and oral), history, which includes introductory law (oral).
  • One elective subject chosen from the following: physics (oral), chemistry (oral), biology (oral), geography, which includes introductory economics (oral). For the Faculties of Science and Medicine, the elective subject chosen must be either physics, chemistry, or biology.
  • No waivers for subjects are permitted.

Waivers for the exam

Waivers for this exam may be given, based on detailed examination of dossiers, for holders of a university diploma (Bachelor's degree equivalent; minimum three-year program, equivalent to at least 180 ECTS credits) obtained from an institution that is recognized by our university.

Applicants to the Bachelor’s program in Multilingual Communication at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting also receive a waiver for this exam. In this particular case, any enrollment at the University of Geneva is only valid for that program, without the possibility of changing programs.

> For more information: the ECUS website (in French or German only)

N.B. The ECUS exam includes a French test (level C1 of the CECR). For that reason, applicants subject to the ECUS exam are given a waiver for the French exam (general and supplementary tests) organized by UNIGE.