42 Angoulême, a launchpad for a whole community
Discover 42 Angoulême, a campus at the heart of a culturally-rich city that appeals to both the artistic and industrial worlds.
Located in the South-West of France, Angoulême is a dynamic and vibrant city, often praised for its quality of life and the rich diversity of its cultural activities. Famed for its International Comics Festival, its Francophone Film Festival, as well as for its city-walls circuit, Angoulême is also particularly lively. Furthermore, The Charente and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions that surround it are full of beautiful places to visit, as well as varied scenic landscapes, with innovative initiatives such as geocaching with Tèrra Aventura to help you discover them. Moreover, Angoulême is only an hour and 15 minutes drive away from the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, which makes it a very convenient place to live in for sea lovers.
The 42 Angoulême campus was eagerly awaited. Local authorities (Conseil départemental, Communauté d’agglomération, and Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine), united within the Pôle Image Magelis, initially put forward the idea of opening a 42 campus in Angoulême as trainings offered at 42 efficiently complement those already on offer at the Pôle Image, but also because they meet local companies’ needs. This is why, as soon as 42 Angoulême was created, 18 companies showed interest in supporting the school financially. Among them, we find animation studios, video game companies, ESN, banks/insurance companies, but also industrialists. The 42 Angoulême campus opened its doors in January 2022 for its first Piscine. At the end of the Piscines in 2022, 173 students joined the training.
“The entire art, image, video game, and animation ecosystem is united in a single center in Angoulême: the Pôle Image Magelis. Adding 42 to it has significantly enriched the cluster’s training offer under the impetus of the local authorities, which are very involved. We also have many companies and sponsors in other industries: digital transformation affects all industries and all structures, whatever their size.”
Olivier Grosse, General Director of 42 Angoulême
Through the “How To Become Myself?” professional support program for students, 42 Angoulême enables its partners to become involved in school’s life. They interact with students by organizing masterclasses and technical workshops, in order to help them familiarise with the digital issues and challenges they face in their industries. This also to helps students decide on where they want to go in their professional careers and what industries and jobs best suit their aspirations. Partner companies find the educational model and its inclusive character particularly appealing, as it offers them a certain level of guarantee that job applicants from 42 will both be competent and have atypical profiles, capable of thinking outside the box. In addition, Angoulême’s location at the intersection between larger cities of the North of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region has made it a competitive player in the region’s economic development, thanks to both the talents it brings together locally and the quality of life it offers through remote working.
The Angoulême campus aims to have annual cohorts of between 150 and 180 students, with selection Piscines in the summer. Its next development axes focus on gender diversity and the development of apprenticeships.
“Despite its size, Angoulême is world-famous thanks to its festivals and even inspired one of the biggest cities in the world: New York, which was originally called New Angoulême!”
Olivier Grosse, General Director of 42 Angoulême
