Normandy University is an association of six institutions spread across Caen, Le Havre and Rouen. Its members first started working together in 1998 and the union between them was formally recognised in 2015.
The University of Rouen is one of Normandy's largest schools, with 27,000 students enrolled. Situated on the banks of the Seine, the University of Rouen celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016.
Rouen is also home to one of Normandy’s engineering schools INSA de Rouen and one of the 20 public architecture schools in France, ENSA Normandie.
INSA stands for National Institute of Applied Science. The institution is a grande école, which means that it has highly selective entry criteria and is outside the standard university system. Students at INSA de Rouen can pursue one of seven specialist engineering courses.
The oldest university in Normandy is Caen, which was first founded by King Henry VI of England in 1432. After being destroyed by bombing in the Second World War, Caen was rebuilt and parts of the resulting campus have recently been recognised as historical monuments by the French government.
The University of Normandy’s second engineering school, ENSICAEN, is also based in Caen. It runs specialist courses in chemistry, electronics, applied physics, materials and computer science.
French magazine L’etudiant listed Caen first in its ranking for student life in 2014-15.
The University of Normandy Le Havre is a public university with 8,000 students enrolled. Based in the port city of Le Havre, it was founded in 1984 through the merger of several institutions that were formerly part of the University of Rouen.
Every student at the University of Normandy gets an ID card, named a Leo Carte. As well as allowing access to the library, it can also be used for payments at some restaurants on the campuses.
