TBS Education — the business school of Toulouse, founded in 1903 — runs its Master in Management as the Programme Grande École: a two-year, triple-crown-accredited (AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA) degree taught on an English or a French track across its Toulouse, Paris and Barcelona campuses, with a compulsory double degree and at least nine months of internships built in. It placed 45th in the Financial Times Masters in Management 2024 and reports 99% of graduates employed within six months.¹ ²
What makes TBS distinctive to apply to is partly geography and partly process. Toulouse is Europe’s aerospace capital — home to Airbus and a dense aeronautics and space cluster — and TBS has a long aerospace- and innovation-management heritage that gives its graduates a recruiting lane peers can’t match. On admissions specifically, TBS pairs an explicit, recommended-not-required test with an accessible price and a generous scholarship ladder. This guide lays out what TBS actually requires, what each component is testing, and how to time it. It is built from TBS’s own admissions-and-fees pages and our full TBS Education profile; where a detail varies by cycle or campus, we say so rather than invent a figure.
Who is eligible
TBS asks for a completed (or near-complete) non-French accredited bachelor’s degree of 180 ECTS, in any discipline.³ You do not need a business background, and you do not need work experience: like other French grandes écoles, the Programme Grande École is a pre-experience programme built for recent graduates. French prépa students and French degree holders generally enter through the national concours routes; the direct international application described here is the relevant door for non-French applicants. You also choose your track — English or French — and your entry campus (Toulouse, Paris or Barcelona) at the point of application.
The admission test: recommended, not required
TBS’s test policy is unusually explicit for a school that doesn’t mandate a test. On the English track, a management test is recommended — and TBS names the figures it looks for: a GMAT of at least 500, a GRE of at least 303, or a CAT of at least 67.³ On the French track, it instead recommends the TAGE-MAGE (around 230 or above). None of these is a hard cut-off, and TBS publishes no class-average, so treat them as a guide, not a bar.
The honest read: “recommended” still means a strong score helps. If your degree was light on quantitative work, a solid GMAT or GRE is the cleanest way to reassure the committee — and it can lift you up the scholarship ladder — but you can be admitted without one. For the trade-offs, see what GMAT score you need for a European MiM, GMAT vs GRE and the TAGE-MAGE explained.
English proficiency
For the English track, non-native speakers (who didn’t study entirely in English) prove English at roughly B2 level. Accepted certificates and indicative minimums include IELTS 6.5, TOEFL iBT 94, Cambridge 176, TOEIC 850, or Duolingo English Test 125.³ There’s a direct incentive to score well above the floor: TBS notes that an IELTS of 7.0 or equivalent improves your chances of a 25% tuition-reduction scholarship, so the English test doubles as a funding lever here.³ Thresholds move between cycles, so confirm the current requirement before booking. You don’t need French to be admitted to the English track, though it helps for living in Toulouse and for part of the recruiting market.
The application file and the interview
Beyond the test and English certificate, TBS’s application is documents-led — submitted online with your transcripts and CV — and culminates in an interview once your file is assessed, with a decision typically returned within about 15 days.³ The interview is the stage that decides a borderline file, so treat it as more than a formality: be ready to make a specific, motivated case for TBS — its aerospace/innovation positioning, the campus and track you’ve chosen, and the compulsory double degree you’re aiming at — rather than a generic “I want to study in France.” For the wider document checklist and interview practice, see MiM application requirements in Europe and our European MiM interview questions guide.
A structural point worth planning around: the Grande École MiM builds in a compulsory double degree and at least nine months of internships, so it is genuinely experience-heavy — a file that shows you understand and want that hands-on, internationally-mobile structure reads stronger.¹
Fees, scholarships and timing
Tuition for the full two-year programme is €32,000, plus a €100 application fee; a €4,200 first instalment secures your place on admission, and the balance can be paid in one sum or six instalments from October.³ For a triple-crown grande école, that sits in the more affordable half of the French field — see our low-cost and tuition-free MiMs in Europe and how much a MiM in Europe costs guides for the wider picture, and weigh it on the cheapest MiM in Europe shortlist.
TBS also publishes an unusually clear scholarship ladder: merit reductions of Distinction (25%), Merit (30%) and Excellence (35%), plus partner-university and alumni discounts, the 25% reduction tied to a strong English score (IELTS 7+), and a 10% early-bird discount on first-year tuition for candidates enrolled by 20 February 2026.³ Admission runs through rounds across the year for a September start — the Toulouse campus tends to review files as they arrive, while Barcelona works in rounds — with decisions about 15 days after the interview.³ Because seats, scholarships and the early-bird discount are all allocated as the cycle runs, applying early genuinely pays. Map your dates against the rest of your list on our deadline tracker, and see Round 1 vs Round 2 for the strategy. If you’re relocating, our moving to France as a student guide covers the practical preparation.
How to read your odds
TBS does not publish an acceptance rate, and as a triple-crown, FT-ranked grande école it draws a strong international pool, so it is genuinely selective despite its approachable file. The honest read of what gets a competitive application across the line:
- A clean, relevant transcript. With no required test, the content and class of your degree carry more weight — present it clearly and confirm you meet the 180-ECTS bachelor requirement.
- A strong, specific interview. It’s a scored stage — prepare a motivated case for TBS’s aerospace/innovation focus, your track and campus choice, and your target double degree.
- Score well on English and (optionally) a test. Both feed the scholarship ladder, so a strong IELTS or GMAT can cut your fee as well as strengthen your file.
A coherent file — an eligible degree, the English certificate, a composed interview, and (optionally) a solid test — submitted early, is the whole game here. TBS reports 99% of graduates employed within six months, so the degree pays the effort back.¹
Confirm before you apply
TBS keeps the live entry requirements, the recommended test and English minimums, the exact fees, the scholarship ladder and the admission rounds inside its own pages and updates them each cycle, so use this guide for the structure and the strategy and verify every hard number against the source before you submit. Weigh TBS against the wider field on our best MiM in France guide, the France MiM hub and the composite rankings; see what a grande école degree and triple-crown accreditation actually mean in our what is a grande école and what triple-crown accreditation means explainers; and if you are still deciding whether the degree itself is worth it, start with is a MiM worth it in 2026, how to build a MiM profile and MiM vs MBA.
Sources (retrieved June 2026): TBS Education’s official Master in Management and admissions-and-fees pages for the eligibility rule (a non-French accredited bachelor of 180 ECTS), the recommended-not-required test and its indicative minima (GMAT ≥500 / GRE ≥303 / CAT ≥67 on the English track; TAGE-MAGE on the French track), the B2 English certificates and minimums (IELTS 6.5 / TOEFL iBT 94 / Cambridge 176 / TOEIC 850 / Duolingo 125) and the IELTS-7 scholarship link, the online application + interview with a ~15-day decision, the €32,000 tuition + €100 fee + €4,200 first instalment + instalment plan, the scholarship ladder (Distinction 25% / Merit 30% / Excellence 35% + partner/alumni + 25% English + 10% early-bird by 20 Feb 2026), the English/French tracks and Toulouse/Paris/Barcelona campuses, the compulsory double degree and ≥9 months of internships, and the September intake with admission rounds; the Financial Times Masters in Management 2024 table for the #45 rank; and our own TBS Education profile for the triple-crown accreditation, the 1903 founding, the 99%-employed-within-six-months figure and the alumni. TBS revises the live application each cycle — confirm the current requirements on its pages. No figures or process steps are invented; where TBS does not publish a value (an acceptance rate, a class-average or a hard test cut-off), this guide says so rather than asserting one.
¹ TBS Education — Master in Management programme page (structure, double degree, internships, 99%-within-six-months) and our TBS profile (triple crown, 1903 founding). ² Financial Times — Masters in Management 2024 (TBS #45). ³ TBS Education — Master in Management admissions-and-fees page (eligibility, recommended tests, English minimums, interview, fees, scholarships, rounds).