emlyon business school admissions:
which test to take and what score to aim for

Which emlyon admissions pathways should you consider?

The pathways covered here do not include entry to the Grande École Program with a two-year degree; the AST 1 and AST 2 pathways article explains how your degree changes the options. The Grande École Program AST requires a French degree of at least three years, state-recognized or at RNCP level II. The school specifies that applicants need the degree itself; validated ECTS credits alone are not enough. Admission is to the program’s second year. Applicants may apply to a Grande École Program pathway only once per year, with a maximum of three applications overall.

The AST is specific to emlyon; its page lists no shared admissions consortium. Graduates of institutions outside France use another pathway: direct international admission to the Master in Management – Grande École, or the Join a School in France platform, which allows one application to multiple French schools. Master’s, MSc, Advanced Master, and MBA programs each have their own requirements. The table compares them; requirements differ by row and should not be transferred between pathways.

Which admissions test should you take for your pathway?

For AST admissions, the page asks for “an official score certificate for the TAGE MAGE® or GMAT™ aptitude test”; either one is sufficient. It does not state a preference. Choose based on other factors: the language in which you perform best, test sessions available before your pathway’s deadline, and the other schools on your list. The management-test selection article covers these criteria, and the GRE article explains when that test makes sense, since the AST page does not list it.

For direct international admission to the Master in Management, the list is broader: GMAT, GRE, TAGE MAGE, CAT for applicants from India only, or emlyon’s online test, which the school says is valid for all its master’s programs. Validity periods differ: five years for the GMAT and GRE, two years for the TAGE MAGE, and one year for the CAT. These are not the AST rules; check the test window for your pathway before booking.

For master’s programs other than the Master in Management, as well as MSc programs, the management test is optional but strongly encouraged according to the master’s page. The International MBA requires GMAT, GRE, or TAGE MAGE, with a waiver possible “only under specific conditions.” The pages reviewed for the Advanced Masters and Executive MBA do not list a management test.

Which English test, and what is the minimum?

For AST admissions, the school accepts an official certificate for one of three tests: TOEIC Listening & Reading, IELTS, or TOEFL iBT. It publishes no minimum on this page or on the master’s and International MBA pages reviewed. C1 CEFR is recommended for the international Master in Management, Master in Finance, and MSc programs reviewed. The AST accepts TOEIC Listening & Reading; the international pathway also accepts Cambridge English. The article comparing TOEIC Listening & Reading and four-skill tests can help you determine which version fits your application.

The international pathway allows waivers for applicants whose native language is English, who earned a degree taught entirely in English within the past three years, or who completed three university years in an entirely English-taught program during the past three years. The pages reviewed do not provide an AST waiver rule; if your education was in English, ask admissions before skipping the test. The English-test waiver article explains how to interpret these conditions.

Which scores does the school publish?

The pages reviewed for AST admissions, the Master in Management, MSc programs, and International MBA list no minimum admissions score, average, median, or cutoff. Published excellence scholarship thresholds reduce tuition; they are not admissions cutoffs. The MBA page also gives a minimum TOEIC score for the Executive MBA’s English-language tracks, shown in the table.

The Master in Management page lists GMAT scores alongside their GMAT Focus equivalents; the TAGE MAGE threshold uses its usual scale out of 600. The page labels it “TAGE MAGE/emMET,” with emMET referring to the school’s internal management test, then says the scholarship does not apply to applicants who took emlyon’s online test. The exact scope of the threshold is therefore unclear. Do not convert these figures to another scale, and confirm them with the school before planning around them.

What does the school assess beyond test scores?

For AST admissions, shortlisting is based on the application (coefficient 6) and TAGE MAGE or GMAT (coefficient 4); an English certificate is required but has no separate coefficient. Admission then includes a motivation interview (coefficient 9, 25 minutes, using cards on Personality, Experience, Creativity, and Project) and an oral English test (coefficient 2; 20 minutes of preparation and a 15-minute interview). The 2027 application fee is €180, with waivers for some applicants. Our AST application-documents article offers a general checklist to supplement the school’s.

Direct international admission to the Master in Management requires an application (CV, passport, degrees, transcripts, scores) and emlyon online tests lasting 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes; decisions are announced within four to five weeks, with a €140 application fee. Join a School in France requires motivation responses and two recommendation letters, among other items, followed by a 30-minute English interview for shortlisted candidates; its application fee is €250.

Which dates should you note?

For AST admissions for the 2027 intake, only the remote session has a published schedule; the in-person session schedule “will be announced soon.” The remote session is for applicants studying or living abroad in 2026–2027. Applications open October 19, 2026 and close November 30, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Only TAGE MAGE and GMAT scores earned between January 1, 2025 and November 19, 2026 are accepted; English scores must be from January 1, 2025 to November 30, 2026. Scores must be added to the application by November 30, 2026. The page places this window in the remote-session schedule: applicants in that session must earn their score by November 19, 2026, inclusive; the in-person session window is still forthcoming. The score-validity article explains how to interpret such a window.

Shortlisting results are announced December 7, 2026, and remote interviews take place December 14–15, 2026. Admission results follow on February 2, 2027; the school says the in-person schedule will be announced later. Direct international applications run from October 13, 2026 to June 28, 2027; Join a School in France runs from September 2026 to April 2027; and the Master in Finance, MSc Luxury Management & Marketing, and MSc Global Innovation & Entrepreneurship pages reviewed list October 6, 2026 to July 15, 2027, subject to early closure if the class fills.