This is a type of educational institution, usually in small and medium-sized towns,[5] that offers post-secondary study programmes designed to provide higher vocational education or the technical skills needed to perform the tasks of a particular and specific job. While the academic level is the same as a bachelor's degree (licence), the programme is different, with much more practical work, projects, apprenticeships and work placements, unlike a traditional bachelor's degree.
The model of a university technical institute in France is similar to that of a university technical college in England or a post-secondaryvocational school. Unlike them, a French university technical institute is attached to a university and offers programmes ranging from associate degrees to bachelor's degrees. University technical institutes have nothing in common with the institutes of technology or Universités de Technologie in France, which are engineering schools.
Description
The university technical institutes (Institut Universitaire de Technologie, IUT) were created in 1966. There are 108 IUTs which are attached to 80 universities including the ones in the French Overseas Territories and Departments.
Prior to 2021, a university technical institute (IUT) was known for offering post-secondary studies lasting two to three years. It offered a diploma (the Diplôme universitaire de technologie or DUT) with an academic level above that of a high school diploma but below that of a bachelor's degree. After finishing their DUT, students had the option to work, do a one-year professional bachelor's degree called Licence Professionnelle (a course also offered by IUTs), or further their studies in a university. Since 2021, university technical institutes have been aligned with the bachelor's master's doctorate system, with the degree being extended from two to three years and renamed "University Bachelor of Technical Studies" (Bachelor Universitaire de Technologie).
The university technical institute allow the preparation of a three-year career-focused vocational undergraduate diploma called Bachelor Universitaire de Technologie, (in English: "Bachelor of Technical Studies", the IUT diploma. They are similar to associate degrees or the BTEC Higher Nationals Diploma. After the three-year IUT diploma, students are expected to enter the job market. Some choose to continue their studies on a post-graduate course at university.[6]
In France, university technical institutes generally bring university education to regions where no university exists. They are systematically attached to a large university, as a satellite campus located several kilometers away. Rural areas and small and medium-sized towns are home to short higher education programmes, such as university technical institutes, but also the Brevets de Technicien Supérieur in high schools.[5]
