CNG (Centre national de gestion): Authorisation and Exams

• Doctors (médecins): EVC by specialty, PCC of two years, authorisation by the commission, then registration with the Ordre des médecins.
• Dentists (chirurgiens-dentistes): EVC, PCC of one year, then authorisation.
• Midwives (sages-femmes): EVC, PCC of one year, then authorisation.
• Pharmacists (pharmaciens), including pharmacist biologists: EVC by specialty, PCC of two years, then authorisation.
• Medical biologists: the CNG also handles authorisation to practise the functions of medical biologist through the CNBM.
• Nurses and other paramedical professions are not handled by the CNG.

• A diploma that lets you practise as a doctor, dentist, midwife or pharmacist in the country that issued it, where that country is outside the EU and the EEA.
• For doctors and pharmacists, a specialist diploma from outside the EU in the specialty you register for, unless your specialty is one of the listed exceptions: general medicine, emergency medicine, geriatrics and, from 2026, internal and polyvalent medicine and clinical immunology, and psychiatry.
• Proof of French at B2 or above (TCF, TEF, DELF), a French baccalauréat or equivalent French diploma, or an attestation that your whole course was taught in French. French nationals and nationals of French-speaking countries are exempt.
• A valid identity document, passport or residence permit at the close of registration.
• No more than four attempts at the EVC since the 2021 session.
• For the internal route only: a current provisional practice certificate with a PACT contract, or at least two years of full-time-equivalent paid work in France in the profession within the three years before the session order, or another eligibility document the CNG lists, plus an attestation signed by the head of department and the president of the hospital medical committee.
• For list B instead of list A: refugee status, statelessness, territorial asylum, subsidiary protection, or French nationals who returned to France at the request of the French authorities.
• For the authorisation itself: completion of the PCC in the specialty applied for, and, where you have worked outside France, a statement from that country's authority, less than a year old, that you have no sanctions.

Check your route with the route finder

1. 1

   1. Identify your procedure and profile

   Before anything else, check whether you fall under the EVC procedure, the EU routes (Hocsman, Dreessen or the I bis quota procedure) or the 2020 transitional decree. The CNG looks at the country of your diploma, your nationality and your basic and specialist diplomas. Applying under the wrong procedure wastes a year, because the EVC window opens only once.
2. 2

   2. Register on the EVC platform during the window

   The platform only opens on the first day of registration and you submit one application, once, with every document as a separate PDF. You choose the ARS for where you live in France, or any ARS if you live abroad. Multiple applications, to one ARS or several, are rejected outright, and no changes or extra documents are accepted after you submit.
3. 3

   3. ARS eligibility check

   The ARS checks that your file is complete and that you meet the conditions; in 2026 it had until 4 September. The CNG does not pre-assess files and does not answer individual questions by email or phone about eligibility. Appeals about registration in 2026 had to go to a dedicated mailbox.
4. 4

   4. Download your convocation and sit the papers

   Convocations are published in your candidate area; in 2026 they were available from 8 October. You must bring the convocation. The exams take place at the Espace Jean Monnet in Rungis, and the external route has a morning paper and an afternoon paper.
5. 5

   5. Results and choice of post

   The CNG publishes the main list of successful list A candidates and makes your score sheet available online. It then runs the national procedure in which successful candidates choose a post and issues the assignment decisions. From the 2024 session, successful candidates must also enrol at a university, as the arrêté of 28 August 2025 requires.
6. 6

   6. Complete the PCC as praticien associé

   You work in your assigned post under the praticien associé status for the length of the PCC, with half-yearly evaluation reports. Since 25 September 2014 these functions must be carried out entirely in the specialty for which you will request authorisation. You can be seconded to another hospital by agreement if your first hospital agrees, but the CNG does not issue new transitional assignments.
7. 7

   7. File your authorisation request

   You submit online through démarches simplifiées, no earlier than two months before the end of the PCC except in residence permit cases. Include the application form from annex 1 of the arrêté of 25 February 2010, identity document, diplomas, CV, EVC results notification, director's attestations of status and working time, and the evaluation reports. Do not post paper files.
8. 8

   8. Commission examination and decision

   The commission gives a favourable opinion, recommends further training or consolidation, or defers its decision for lack of information. With a favourable outcome you receive a notification by post and an authorisation order is published in the Journal officiel. You can then register with the professional order and practise in hospital or private practice.

• EVC external route: fundamental knowledge

  An anonymous written paper of two hours testing the fundamental knowledge needed to practise the profession and, for doctors and pharmacists, the specialty. It is marked from 0 to 20 with a coefficient of 1. In 2026 it ran from 10:00 to 12:00.

• EVC external route: practical knowledge

  A second anonymous written paper of two hours on the practical knowledge needed to practise, again within the specialty for doctors and pharmacists, marked from 0 to 20 with a coefficient of 1. In 2026 it ran from 15:00 to 17:00. A mark of 6 out of 20 or less in either paper is eliminatory.

• EVC internal route

  One multiple-choice paper on fundamental knowledge, from 10:00 to 12:00 in 2026, for candidates who already practise in France under the statuses the CNG lists. A separate list of specialties and posts is published for this route (annex II of the session order).

• Programme and past papers

  The programme is set in annex I of the arrêté of 9 July 2021 and refers to the French specialist training regulations for each profession, for example the 2004 orders on the diplômes d'études spécialisées for doctors. The CNG publishes past papers for both written papers from 2009 onwards on its EVC page.

• Aptitude test for EU routes

  Under the Hocsman and Dreessen EU procedures, the commission can require compensatory measures instead of authorisation: an adaptation placement and/or an aptitude test, which the CNG describes as an oral examination.

• The CNG does not accept English tests. Its language requirement is French at B2 or above.
• Accepted proof: a TCF or TEF result at B2, a DELF at B2, a French baccalauréat, or a French diploma at an equivalent or higher level, as listed in article 2 of the arrêté of 27 October 2014.
• If your whole course for the diploma that lets you practise was taught in French, your university can issue a named attestation instead.
• French nationals and nationals of countries where French is an official language do not have to justify their French. Refugees, stateless people and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection can prove it by any means.
• All supporting documents must be in French or translated by a court-approved translator or, if you live abroad, certified by the French consulate.

Estimate your total cost

• EVC stage: the CNG estimates about one year, from registration (usually a one-month window around mid-year) to the end-of-year exams and results.
• PCC: two years of paid hospital work for doctors and pharmacists, one year for dentists and midwives.
• Authorisation file: you can file two months before the PCC ends; the CNG says processing takes several weeks, given the volumes.
• Provisional practice certificates: in 2026 requests were accepted from 15 January to 30 April and from 1 August to 1 October only.
• Commissions: the CNG publishes a provisional calendar of commission dates, updated periodically, and dental files in 2026 were being scheduled for September to October.

1. 1CNG: Commission d'autorisation d'exercice (CAE)
2. 2CNG: Autorisation d'exercice, médecin
3. 3CNG: Épreuves de vérification des connaissances (EVC)
4. 4CNG: Session EVC 2026
5. 5CNG: EVC 2026, posts open on the external route (annex I)
6. 6CNG: Obtenir une attestation d'exercice provisoire
7. 7CNG: Exercer ou se former en France
8. 8Service-Public: Carte talent