Exchange Agreement Signature with University of Cambridge

On Friday, May 12, 2023, a delegation from HEC Paris signed a key academic partnership with the University of Cambridge – a great way to enrich our students' experience with innovative academic exchange opportunities. Ms Hélène Duchêne, French Ambassador to the UK, was present for the signature, highlighting the importance of those cross-border partnerships.

The signing of this agreement allows HEC Paris to offer its students a brand new opportunity: an exchange year at the University of Cambridge, within the prestigious Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics, with courses taught entirely in English. This new partnership comes in addition to the 8 existing academic partnerships of HEC Paris in the UK: London Business School (LBS), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Manchester Business School, University College London (UCL), University of Edinburgh, Warwick Business School (WBS), Imperial College London and the Saïd Business School - SBS (University of Oxford).

A total immersion

HEC Paris students whose applications are accepted will benefit from a full year of immersion at Cambridge University, with numerous advantages such as housing in a college, the support of a tutor and a College Director of Studies, and access to supervision (i.e. small group teaching sessions) and research seminars.

Exchange students will choose 3 topics, for which they will have to attend seminars, and write 8 papers (or essays). They will also have access to seminars in other colleges. This new opportunity complements the 55 destinations already offered to HEC students for an exchange period in their first year.

Cambridge students on the HEC campus

The first Cambridge student will arrive at HEC in September 2023 to share a year with all our students, including the 500 exchange students from around the world who come to the HEC Paris campus each year. The variety of academic profiles and the diversity of nationalities represented on our campus (more than 130 to date) will contribute greatly to a fruitful and highly formative experience.

“A key role of the International Offices of HEC Paris, part of the International Department is to enrich our students’ experience. We are delighted to have started this new partnership. Studying abroad provides students with the opportunity to learn from different academic institutions, which can have different teaching styles and perspectives on business. This can help students to develop a different well-rounded understanding of business, and to gain new insights into how to approach business challenges.”

Delphine Mourot, Director of the HEC Paris Office in the UK