By Cyril KimbiSitting a concours while enrolled at university is the most common second attempt in Cameroon, and it is also the one most often done badly. The two workloads compete, neither is prioritised, and the year produces a mediocre transcript and a mediocre ranking.
Why the university year is an advantage
Students in this position tend to see the degree as an obstacle. For science candidates in particular it is closer to the opposite.
First-year mathematics and physics revisit and extend the same material the engineering concours examine — analysis, algebra, mechanics, electricity. You are being taught the content of the concours as part of your degree, by someone paid to teach it, with problem sets attached.
What the degree does not give you is the thing the concours actually measures: speed under a fixed clock. University assessment rewards depth and complete reasoning. A concours rewards how many correct answers you can produce in a bounded time, because the ranking is a ranking, not a threshold.
That gap is the whole preparation problem, and it is why a strong student can be a mediocre concours candidate.
Dividing the year
Decide the split deliberately rather than by whichever deadline is nearest.
| Period | University | Concours |
|---|---|---|
| Start of semester | Light | Heavy — build the foundation now |
| Mid-semester | Assessments arrive | Maintain: two timed sessions a week |
| Examination period | Priority | Pause, deliberately |
| Between semesters | Recovery | Heavy — full papers under conditions |
The pause during university examinations is not a concession, it is a plan. Trying to hold both at full intensity in the same fortnight is how students end with a damaged transcript and no place. Two weeks paused, resumed on a date already written down, costs almost nothing.
The weekly structure that works
- Two timed sessions a week, non-negotiable. Ninety minutes each, past-paper questions, clock running, no notes. This is the whole programme; everything else is optional.
- One marking session. Mark yourself strictly against the scheme, and log what you lost. After ten sessions the list is short and repetitive.
- Use coursework as concours practice where the topic overlaps — do the problem set under time instead of at leisure.
- Nothing new in the final month. Speed on secured material returns more than a new topic started late.
Two timed sessions a week for eight months is roughly sixty full practice sessions. That beats a frantic three-month push by a wide margin, and it fits around a degree.
Diagnose before you revise
If you have already sat the concours once, do not start again from chapter one. Work out first which of four things happened: you ran out of time, one paper collapsed, there were genuine content gaps, or the ratio of places to candidates was against you.
Each has a different remedy, and re-covering material you already knew is the most comfortable and least useful response. The resit guide sets out the four and what each requires.
Check eligibility before investing the year
Some concours restrict candidates by age, some require a year of higher education, and some are open only to specific series or degrees. A year of preparation for an exam you cannot sit is entirely avoidable.
Read the current arrêté — conditions shift between sessions, and a candidate relying on last year’s article can believe themselves eligible when they are not. Confirm dates and conditions with the institution rather than from a forwarded message.
Widen the field
Because the written papers overlap heavily within a family, a candidate prepared for one engineering concours is largely prepared for several. The marginal cost is the application and the travel, not another six months.
See the engineering comparison for which exams group together, and the route shortlist for how to choose across families.
If it does not work this year
You still have the degree, and that is the point of the structure. A student who protected their coursework has a year of credits and can continue, re-sit, or change direction. A student who sacrificed it has neither the place nor the year.
That asymmetry is the argument for treating the degree as the floor. It is not a lack of ambition; it is what makes a second attempt affordable.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sit a concours while enrolled at university?
Yes, and it is common. Check the eligibility conditions, since some require a year of higher education and some set an age limit.
Will preparing hurt my degree?
Not if you protect the examination periods and use overlapping coursework as practice. It hurts when both are pushed at full intensity at once.
How many hours a week?
Two timed sessions plus one marking session is a sustainable and effective baseline across a full year.
Is a second attempt viewed badly?
No. Each concours is marked on that year’s performance, and many admitted candidates succeeded on a second attempt.
Should I sit more than one?
Yes, where the papers overlap. It raises your odds substantially for very little extra preparation.
