VAE, Validation of acquired experience

Professionals wishing to validate their professional experience by obtaining a diploma from the École du Louvre can submit a file highlighting their career path and professional achievements under the VAE.

Anyone who has worked in a professional capacity can, under certain conditions, benefit from the validation of acquired experience (VAE). Their experience can be used to obtain certification for professional advancement.

VAE is a full-fledged route to obtaining a diploma in the same way as the school and university route, apprenticeship and continuing education.

As a result, the diploma is no longer merely the sanction of a training course, but also becomes that of a professional and personal career.

You must be able to provide proof of at least one year's (continuous or otherwise):

• Salaried or unsalaried professional activity,
• Volunteer work or voluntary service,
• Inclusion on the list of top-level sportspeople,
• Union responsibilities,
• Local electoral mandate or local elective office.

The experience must be relevant to the targeted certification.

A jobseeker, whether or not receiving compensation, can also benefit under certain conditions.

Filing the admissibility file:
The first step in the VAE process is to compile and file an admissibility file.

It includes:

• CERFA document Application for eligibility for validation of prior learning (downloadable below)
• Documents proving the activity declared in the CERFA form (contracts, employer certificates, etc.)
• Copies of diplomas obtained
• CV
• Copy of identity document

Send the digital version of the file by email to [email protected], by November 30, 2026 at the latest:
 

• Fee: 83 €
  The bank transfer details will be indicated by email on receipt of the digital file by the École du Louvre.
   

You will be notified by email of the file's administrative admissibility decision.

If the application is admissible, you must request that the validation file be sent by e-mail.
In this file, you describe the tasks and activities you have carried out during your professional experience, and set out your acquired knowledge, skills and competencies and how they relate to the referential of the diploma you are aiming for.

The application for validation is submitted to a jury made up of at least 25% professionals.

The application must be submitted by post, by February 26, 2027 at the latest to:
École du Louvre - VAE - Service de la scolarité
Place du Carrousel. Porte Jaujard. 75038 Paris cedex 01.
 

• Fee:
  366 € (individual payment of costs)
  or
  731 € (assumed by the employer)
   

Interview with the VAE jury
The jury verifies that your prior learning corresponds to the skills, knowledge and skills of the diploma you wish to obtain. The interview with the VAE jury will take place between May and June 2027.

Three decisions can be made:

• Total validation: the jury considers that your prior learning corresponds to the skills, knowledge and competencies of the diploma you wish to obtain. You will receive an attestation of competence indicating this.
• Partial validation: the jury considers that your prior learning does not fully correspond to the skills, knowledge and competencies of the diploma you wish to obtain. You will receive a certification booklet indicating the skills you have acquired, as well as notification of the elements requiring further assessment.
• Refusal of validation: the jury considers that your prior learning does not correspond to the skills, knowledge and competencies of the diploma you wish to obtain.

• Postgraduate diploma from the École du Louvre, specialising in ‘Research in Art History, Archaeology and Museology’
• Postgraduate diploma from the École du Louvre, specialising in ‘The Art Market’
• Postgraduate diploma from the École du Louvre, specialising in ‘Art Education and Outreach’
• Postgraduate Diploma from the École du Louvre, specialising in ‘Artwork Management and Preventive Conservation’
• Postgraduate Diploma from the École du Louvre, specialising in ‘Tangible Cultural Heritage, Provenance and International Issues’

You will find below, the competencies and skills acquired at the end of the 1st year and 2nd year of graduate studies at the École du Louvre. Candidates for a VAE diploma must demonstrate that they possess and have mastered them through their professional career or training.

• Download the help document
• Download the descriptive appendices to the graduate diploma in Art History, Archaeology and Museology
• Download the descriptive appendices to the graduate diploma Art Market path
• Download the descriptive appendices to the second-cycle diploma in Mediation
• Download the descriptive appendices to the second-cycle diploma in Regie des œuvres et conservation préventive
• Download the descriptive appendices to the second-cycle diploma in Sensitive assets, provenance and international issues