With project-based learning, Epitech lets you learn differently !
Being a tech expert, a computer science expert, is above all being deeply human. It means being attentive to your environment, being able to question your acquired skills, to learn continuously—of course from yourself, but also from others and with others collaboratively.
That’s why we have chosen to place these human values at the core of our project-based learning, an active pedagogy recognized for 25 years.
How does Epitech’s pedagogy work?
Born at Epitech in 1999, our active pedagogy, also called project-based learning, is a unique method founded on action. It allows everyone to learn in a sustainable and constructive way, bringing autonomy, communication, and skills.
Its pillars: practice, collaboration, teamwork, communication.
The objective: to test together the knowledge and skills acquired, to reason, and to acquire problem-solving methods.
This project-based pedagogy builds robust expertise and the fundamental ability to regularly update one’s knowledge. In a constantly changing technological and business world, our students are thus capable of learning, unlearning, and relearning, ensuring lasting professional success.
Why choose Epitech?
For its active pedagogy!
Learning together, with peer-to-peer support
At Epitech, support within active pedagogy is not like at any other computer science school. Since 1999, Epitech has developed and strengthened a unique method based on knowledge transfer between students via “peer-to-peer,” whose pillars are our Epitech Teaching Assistants (ETA).
Supervised by a pedagogical manager, ETAs are students from upper years who share and pass on their skills as well as their passion for computer science to students in lower years. They are responsible for supporting other students, supervising activities (projects, technical help, exam monitoring…), and participating in school life. Attached to the pedagogical team of their campus, ETAs become real points of reference in the school for other students and are at the heart of our project-based pedagogy.
Learning to support and assert oneself to better help others
This way of organizing Epitech’s pedagogy through ETA also represents an advantage for those who choose to become ETA during their studies! Indeed, being an ERA also means the opportunity to acquire and develop many personal skills—organization, empathy, eloquence, the ability to adapt one’s communication according to the audience or situation, etc. These are commonly called « soft skills », increasingly sought after by companies that have understood the era when IT experts were just « coding machines » is long gone!
“Speaking in public was something I was very apprehensive about before, but today, I am much more comfortable and calm! I know that being an ETA helped me with this. To explain something, you have to know how to express yourself well and adapt your language according to the situation and the student’s level, especially since whenever students have a question, they primarily turn to us. Our role is therefore to know how to respond to requests and provide the best possible help on a daily basis!”
Kylian (Epitech class of 2023)
on his experience as an ETA
Projects: the foundation of Epitech pedagogy
Our students in the Grande École Program complete nearly 80 projects over 5 years, which are true pillars of our pedagogy. Carrying out a project means producing a solution to a problem posed in a specific technical context, necessarily in a team, within a set deadline. Each project has a specific duration (from a few days to several months) and requires a team of varying size (from 2 to 10 students). Smaller projects prepare students for bigger ones. These 80 projects allow the acquisition of strong skills across all fields of computer science.
Our inductive pedagogical model based on collaborative work develops in our students the essential professional skills: knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills.
Exciting and educational projects from the first year
Recreating in two weeks the famous game « Battleship »—a board game where two players place « ships » on a secret grid and try to « hit » the opponent’s ships—is the goal of the Navy project, a first-year project in the Grande École Program at Epitech. The particularity of this early curriculum project? Reproduce the game functionally within a terminal command prompt as a program!
Reproducing a game I played as a child, with the constraints and specificities we had to respect […] was a challenge I really wanted to take on!
Jérémie (class of 2025)
Choosing the setting, character, soundtrack, creating the menu, monsters & obstacles, managing animations… The “my_runner” project, commonly called the “Runner Project,” involves creating in two weeks a platform video game where the player’s character continuously moves forward, dodging obstacles through a procedurally generated world with theoretically no end. This project offers students some creative freedom. How to manage the interaction between the character and obstacles? What are the main difficulties of the project?
“I chose this topic because the game itself is very fun, and I was eager to animate a character and bring it to life through the game!”
Thomas (class of 2025)
Career Paths After Epitech?
Computer science is a vast and constantly evolving field. Its application sectors continue to expand, technologies are renewed, and new programming languages and tools emerge.
Our pedagogical model brings our students to a level recognized for excellent overall mastery. They also gain recognized expertise in a specific domain. Each student, a true architect of their own path, defines their area of excellence by selecting certain projects, choosing internships (nearly a year and a half of internships during the program), and deciding the subject of their final-year project.
Graduates of Epitech’s Grande École Program join all kinds of companies as software engineers, across all current technological fields. With diverse profiles, they are especially capable of updating their knowledge to maintain their skills over time and meet future challenges. They also progress quickly in terms of responsibility.
In short, immersing yourself in Epitech’s pedagogy, infused with the Agile method, provides a combination of experiences that maximizes opportunities to access numerous high-level and essential careers in the digital field, from Chief Technical Officer to Data Scientist, from DevOps to cybersecurity expert!
The legendary Pool :
A symbol of Epitech’s pedagogy!
The Grande École Program Pool:
1st year
1st year
Pool C
The original Epitech Pool. Five weeks of intensive work and immersion in the C programming language, marking a first step into the coding world for many. Students develop good habits, gain autonomy, and learn to work on group projects while showing strong solidarity.
2nd year
Pool C++
In the second year, our students experience a new Epitech Pool. This intense three-week period allows students to become proficient in C++. The goal is to guide students through discovering a new programming paradigm—object-oriented, modular, and functional.
3rd year
Pool Survivor
The latest Epitech Pool: two weeks during which our students take on the role of developers facing the demands of a particularl client, who throws numerous unexpected challenges that must be handled with calm and determination…
“The Pool was a very tough but at the same time very rewarding experience. I started with difficulties because there are many concepts to grasp very quickly, and it’s not easy to assimilate them. I managed to get through it simply by communicating with other students, and that’s generally how we learn!”
Nathan (class of 2025)
The Innovation Track, Epitech’s Launchpad Program into the Tech World
A true innovation cycle, the Innovation Track of the Grande École Program marks the beginning of a great adventure in the tech world for our students. From the 3rd to the 5th year, they work in groups of 8 to 10 on their ambitious final-year project, which can be purely technical or aimed at becoming the next successful startup in the French Tech ecosystem. The choice is yours!
3rd year
Emergence
The Innovation Track starts at the end of the 3rd year with a 6-week period during which students identify needs, generate ideas, experiment with innovative solutions, and validate concepts for what will become their final-year project: the Innovation Project!
4th year
From Prototype to Project Implementation
During the 4th year, students enter the development and industrialization phase of their project: continuous development and integration, management, growth hacking… all essential steps to turn an idea into a finished solution.
5th year
From Solution to Product
In the 5th year, students finalize their project by completing the business aspects and engaging a community of users. Projects are presented during Epitech Experience, a major event of their studies where each group showcases their project and demonstrates its value to the general public, partner companies, and the entire Epitech ecosystem.
A Typical Pedagogical Week at Epitech: The Rhythm of Computer Science!
The life of an Epitech student is shared between pedagogical briefs, projects, social activities—especially through student associations—and, depending on the year, work in companies. Thanks to the school’s unique pedagogy, a week at Epitech doesn’t resemble a typical week at a computer science school. In fact, no week is ever the same at Epitech!
Contrary to popular belief, life as a computer science student at Epitech is not just about spending long hours alone in front of a computer. While learning is intensive, it is centered on exchange and knowledge sharing. All means are good to combine work and pleasure, especially when finding time to develop one’s Epitech Experience project, from the creation of the first prototype to the final touches!
Pedagogical Director at Epitech: Passionate Work for Passionate Minds!
Epitech’s pedagogy has worked so well since its creation because it relies on passionate men and women at each of its campuses. Always present for students, ERAs, and guest instructors alike, Epitech’s teaching professionals are an essential part of shaping the success of our future computer science experts!
As a pedagogical director, I am responsible for both overseeing the teaching team—many of our instructors are Epitech graduates—and guiding students toward their professional lives. I also ensure that emerging technologies are fully integrated into our courses and projects. At heart, my mission is to manage both urgent needs and long-term vision. What excites me? Every day at Epitech is different! New technologies and computer science are by nature constantly evolving sectors, where continuous improvement is essential. Adapting and taking risks is key, because it’s by losing balance that we move forward!
Laurent, Pedagogical Director at Epitech Marseille
Project Week: when the project culture of Epitech pedagogy is extended to other schools!
Whether internal or proposed by companies and institutions, challenges, hackathons, and all sorts of competitions punctuate the lives of Epitech students throughout their studies. Every year, one of these challenges ignites the passion of the school’s students, and not only them: it’s Project Week!
Organized by the IONIS Group since 2015,
Project Week brings together no fewer than 1,000 students from Epitech, as well as Epitech Digital School, iSEG, and e-artsup. Forming inter-school and therefore interdisciplinary teams (marketing, design, and computer science) after the famous January kick-off meeting, the students find themselves combining their strengths and skills to work hand in hand on a problem proposed by a renowned company. This true fusion of talents has only one objective: to imagine a solution that is both innovative and relevant, creative and practical, and then present it to a jury of professionals at a grand finale.
Big names like Sony Music Entertainment, FranceTV Publicité, Nike, Meetic, Mugler and
JCDecaux have already challenged our future talents on current issues and seen their full potential to shape great innovations, regardless of the sector or company!
We were impressed by the quality of the presentations from the IONIS Group students! They demonstrated great creativity, ingenuity, and professionalism, proposing innovative solutions to a concrete societal challenge that directly affects them. Their fresh and relevant perspectives were a real breath of fresh air and inspiration for us.
Matthieu Jacquier, CEO of Meetic, after the 2022 edition of Project Week
