The schools of higher education, situated in Brest and Toulon took the name of “Ecoles Normales de Maistrance” in 1868.

Originally exclusively dedicated to training military engineers to the requirements of the French Ministry of Defense, the school was progressively opened up to civilian students in 1988.

The number of civilian students increased dramatically in the 1990s in parallel with the military cutbacks linked to restructuring plans.

On 2 February 2017, the directors of IMT Atlantique and ENSTA Bretagne signed a partnership agreement between the two establishments in the presence of the Minister for Defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The agreement aims to establish coordinated activities in the short and long term, covering training (especially through student exchanges between the 2 schools), research, innovation, internationalization and the creation of an engineering center of excellence and reference.

There are generally 180 students in a year (85% civilian and 15% military) who are mostly recruited through the Mines Télécom competitive entry exams.

There are 3 specializations (Embedded Systems, Vehicle Architecture and Naval Platforms) and a complementary course (Company Sciences).

It answers two main objectives: ENSTA Bretagne also has joint laboratories with Thales, Naval Group and IxBlue.

The Lab-STICC (the French acronym for the Information and Communication Science, Technology and Knowledge Laboratory, UMR CNRS 6285) comprises 180 lecturers from IMT-Atlantique Bretagne – Pays de Loire, UBO, UBS (the University of Lorient-Vannes), ENIB and ENSTA Bretagne.

The Training Research Center (CRF-EA 1410) is composed of 30 lecturers from CNAM Paris (the main establishment), Centrale-Supelec, the University of Évry and ENSTA Bretagne.