Faxing a university
An incomplete application, a missed exam: your student number and the date matter more than the format.
Enrolment, applications and document submissions go first through institutional portals and the digital learning environment. Fax survives in some faculty administrative offices for proof of absence from an exam or a missing document, where academic regulations allow. To have a degree earned abroad recognised, the comparability certificate is issued by ENIC-NARIC France, and admission remains at the institution's own discretion under its own rules. In all cases, put your student number (INE) or application number on the cover sheet.
Why a university still accepts faxes
Student records offices and administrative offices collect documents from foreign secondary schools, embassies, medical practices, and students on internships far from campus. Some have kept a fax line for these correspondents, even though most procedures now take place in the digital environment.
The most frequent case remains the medical certificate following a missed exam: the academic regulations allow a short deadline for submitting it. If the departmental office accepts it, this time-stamped transmission report spares you from having to rely on the post office in the middle of exams.
Where to find the valid number
- The academic regulations or the exam session notice: who to submit a supporting document to, and in what form.
- The website of your faculty unit — UFR, department, or school — on the departmental office or student records page.
- The departmental office, by phone or email, to check that the fax gets through during the exam session.
What the cover sheet should say
- The institution, the faculty unit, and the office concerned: student records, academic office, or academic affairs.
- Your first and last name, your INE national student ID number or your enrolment file number.
- The year of study and the degree programme; for an exam, the course concerned and the date of the test.
- The reason and the page count, with no medical commentary beyond what the certificate states.
The proof to archive
Keep the PDF you sent, its transmission report, and the departmental office's acknowledgement if you receive one. If a supporting document is ever challenged as to its admissibility, the date it was sent and the exact content of the document are your only arguments.
Other channels, sometimes preferable
The digital workspace (ENT)
Enrolment, document submissions, and absence certificates all go through the ENT or the student portal, with a full record kept.
The online comparability application
For a foreign degree, the ENIC-NARIC France procedure is completed entirely online, from submitting your file to receiving the comparability statement.
Handing documents in at the departmental office
An original submitted in exchange for a dated receipt remains the best guarantee for an official document.
Other guides
- A sick leave notice sent too late cuts into your benefits: the send date counts double.
- Card to block: phone first. For everything else, a properly referenced document is often sufficient.
- Reporting damage promptly and in writing protects everyone; notice to vacate, on the other hand, follows its own formal requirements.
- Procedure is won on details: the right department, the exact RG number, a time-stamped record.
Send to an organisation
This topic
- Faxing an organization: instructions
- Reporting damage promptly and in writing protects everyone; notice to vacate, on the other hand, follows its own formal requirements.
- Procedure is won on details: the right department, the exact RG number, a time-stamped record.
- An overloaded diplomatic post processes first the transmissions it can identify at a glance.
Keep reading
Pages chosen to help you prepare a send, track it, or keep proof of it.