The ranking of medical faculties in France is based on private constructions, not on an official ranking published by the State or the National Management Center. Specialized media (Thotis, preparatory schools, blogs) compile partial data: success rates in PASS or LAS, attractiveness of Parcoursup, accommodation capacities, hospital research. Understanding what these rankings measure, and what they ignore, allows for choosing a faculty suited to one’s profile rather than chasing an artificial rank.
Real selectivity in the first year: what the success rate does not reveal
Most rankings display a raw success rate in PASS or LAS. This figure compares the number of students admitted to the second year with the number of enrolled students. It does not take into account either the initial level of students or the numerus apertus set locally by each university.
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A faculty that welcomes a pool of students from highly selective scientific high schools will mechanically display a higher success rate. Paris Cité, Paris-Saclay, or Sorbonne University benefit from this recruitment bias. Conversely, universities located in areas where the average school profile differs may seem less effective, while their educational added value is comparable.
Consulting a ranking of the top 500 medical faculties helps to position universities relative to each other, provided this rank is cross-referenced with the real selectivity on Parcoursup and the number of places opened under the numerus apertus.
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The candidate-to-available-places ratio is a more telling indicator than the success rate alone. A faculty that receives fifteen applications for one place in PASS does not offer the same chances as a university where this ratio falls below ten. The rank in a ranking does not predict the individual probability of advancing to the second year.
Neuder Law 2025 and accommodation capacities: growing territorial disparities
The Neuder law, adopted in 2025, changed the logic of distributing places in health studies. Priority is now given to the health needs of territories, meaning that universities located in areas under-resourced in doctors may see their numerus apertus increase, regardless of their position in national rankings.
This evolution creates a gap between perceived prestige and real opportunity. A medical faculty in a region with medical tension (central France, overseas territories, certain medium-sized cities) may offer more places than a saturated large metropolis. For a student whose primary goal is to access the second year, geographical location becomes a strategic parameter.
Three criteria to consider before choosing on Parcoursup
- The numerus apertus of the targeted university and its evolution over the last two academic years, reflecting the local health reception policy
- The ratio between the number of candidates who confirmed a PASS or LAS wish and the number of places actually allocated
- The presence of an active university hospital center (CHU) in clinical research, which conditions the quality of training from the second cycle and indirectly prepares for national exams
Existing rankings rarely integrate these three dimensions simultaneously. They focus on research (via the IPERU indicator) or on Parcoursup selectivity, without linking this data to the territorial dynamics introduced by the Neuder law.
Health License Reform 2027: a change of framework for future students
The PASS/LAS system will be replaced by a health portal license starting in the 2027 academic year, according to draft decrees and orders published by the Ministry of Higher Education. Students enrolling in the 2026 academic year will complete their studies under the current regime, but those taking the baccalaureate in 2027 will enter a different system.
This reform alters how rankings can be constructed in the future. The PASS and LAS, which served as the basis for comparing success rates, will disappear. Current rankings reflect a system that is coming to an end.
The health portal license will unify entry into the MMOPK fields (medicine, midwifery, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy). The exact selection methods at the end of the first year remain to be specified by each university. Some faculties have already adopted alternative formats: Strasbourg offers a Health Sciences license, and UPEC operates exclusively in LAS.
What changes concretely for the ECN and EDN
The national ranking exams (ECN), gradually being replaced by the national dematerialized exams (EDN), evaluate students at the end of the second cycle. The quality of training between the second and sixth years largely depends on the affiliated CHU, clinical supervision, and the volume of hospital internships.
A ranking focused solely on the first year (PASS/LAS success rate) does not inform about a faculty’s ability to prepare its students for the EDN. Faculties affiliated with large university hospital centers (Paris, Lyon, Montpellier, Toulouse) have a structural advantage in terms of diversity of internships and research. This advantage does not appear in any public ranking.
Ranking of medical faculties in France: reading the data without error
The Thotis 2026 ranking awards the highest marks to Paris Cité, Paris-Saclay, and Lyon 1 Claude Bernard. These results confirm the dominance of Parisian universities and a few regional metropolises. The Catholic Institute of Lille, Reims, and La Réunion are at the bottom of the table.
These disparities primarily reflect differences in research resources and entry selectivity. A motivated student in an average faculty can outperform a passive student in a prestigious faculty. The ranking measures the institution, not the individual journey.
- Paris Cité and Paris-Saclay dominate thanks to their research ecosystem and the density of their CHUs
- Lyon 1, Montpellier, and Toulouse complete the top of the table with a good balance between selectivity and supervision
- Intermediate-sized universities (Tours, Nantes, Grenoble) sometimes offer a better student-to-supervisor ratio, compensating for a more modest overall rank
The scheduled removal of PASS and LAS in 2027 will render these rankings obsolete in their current form. Future rankings will need to incorporate the criteria of the health portal license, the contours of which will vary from one university to another. Therefore, choosing a medical faculty in 2026 implies anticipating a system that will no longer exist in two years, prioritizing the robustness of the affiliated CHU and the alignment between the local numerus apertus and one’s own chances of admission.