The VAE or Validation des Acquis de l'Expérience is a procedure for the recognition of prior learning that allows any French educational institution to grant degrees partly or completely based on work experience.
The integrity of the vetting procedure is down to individual institutions, however, to produce a false document in support of an application is a felony punished by a large fine and up to three years in jail in France.
[1] A French law, passed August 23, 1985, allowed people with work experience to ask for a Diploma equivalence, but this was mostly for vocational degrees.
A significant change came with the Loi de Modernisation Sociale (Law of Social Modernization) dated January 17, 2002, that specifically authorized universities and other "établissements d'Enseignement supérieurs" (higher education institutions) to grant standard degrees (BTS, DEUG, Licence, Maîtrise, DES, DESS, Master, Mastaire, Doctorat, etc.)
[2] It is important to note that Art L- 613-4 states: "The validation produces the same effects as the knowledge or aptitude testing process that it replaces.