First year admission
A foundation course is highly recommended since the examination requires a certain level of artistic competency and in the oral interview candidates have to present a personal work portfolio difficult to constitute alone. Artistic competency is only one of the elements evaluated by the jury. Personal motivations and artistic ambitions are also taken into account.
Students who have just passed the baccalauréat exam are rarely admitted. Those who are admitted must have benefited from prior knowledge of an artistic milieu and drawing classes (either in their lycée or in extra-curricular classes such as those run by the Ateliers du Carrousel during the school year or holiday periods, and only if they have a very high level of proficiency. The Ateliers du Carrousel, like the Ecole Camondo, is part of Les Arts Décoratifs.

Admission to upper years
One is required to pass the competitive entrance examination (commun exam for all candidates). The Ecole Camondo jury decide at which level each candidate is allowed to enter, according to his/her previous curriculum.