Curriculum and teaching approach
3 key strands: scientific training, personal development and foreign languages
The scientific teaching staff at ISEN is made up of permanent staff who are experts and/or researchers in their chosen field, as well as visiting lecturers from industry. Teaching takes place in lectures and practical interactive seminar classes. Project work plays an important role in our curriculum and a major team project assignment takes place at the end of each year of study. International students are encouraged to participate in these projects as a way of developing their intercultural teamwork skills. Project supervision will be provided by specialist teaching staff and teams will benefit from group coaching sessions to help them deal with cross-cultural differences in work and communication styles.
The personal development/humanities programme provides a wide range of seminars, workshops and interactive activities taught by permanent staff and visiting professional coaches and trainers. With a focus on developing soft skills, self-confidence, empathy, critical thinking, cross-cultural awareness and open-mindedness, these classes seek to equip students to fulfil their roles as the leaders, managers, entrepreneurs and inventors of the future. Many of these classes are taught in French but a selection will be available in English. See the course catalogue for more information.
English as a foreign language
In common with other Grande Ecole Engineering Schools, all ISEN OUEST students must achieve a B2 level in English in order to qualify for graduation. At ISEN, this level is certified by obtaining a minimum score of 785 points on the TOEIC® test. Preparation classes for TOEIC are provided, as well as other English language classes in business English, public speaking and presentations, meetings and negotiation skills in English. International students who wish to prepare for the TOEIC test, or to develop their business English skills may join these classes. Both ISEN Brest and ISEN Nantes are TOEIC exam centres and international students may enrol to take the test here. Contact the International Coordinator to find out more.
French as a Foreign Language (FLE) – Tuition in French as a Foreign Language will be offered to students who do not speak French. Please note that the level of these classes will be determined by the level of the participants during any particular semester.
Other languages – German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Italian
These classes are available on an optional basis to ISEN students. If there is space available, and subject to approval by the teacher concerning your level of proficiency, International students may be able to enrol in a weekly class. If you are interested in this possibility, contact the International Coordinator to find out more.