More and more young people are turning to vocational education and every year more than 150,000 are moving towards a CAP, the certificate of professional aptitude.
The CAP or certificate of professional aptitude allows young people to continue their studies while becoming professional, from the end of the third year, generally for two years. How long does a CAP last? What is the level required to follow this training? What are the different CAPs offered? We take stock of this school curriculum.
What is a CAP?
A CAP is a vocational education diploma which is prepared in two years at the end of the third class.. In some cases and for some audiences, it can be prepared in just one year, or on the contrary in three years. It is aimed particularly at students who wish to enter working life quickly and provides a qualification as a skilled worker or employee. Each CAP obviously offers its own program and variations are possible in the organization of the timetable.
Where to take your CAP?
The teaching can be followed within a technical College or a private technical education establishment, within one of a apprentice training center (CFA) public or private or an apprenticeship section (SA) for students who follow it by learning, or else at a distance.
Students who opt for the CAP follow a very comprehensive training that includes several components: a period of professional training (PFMP) compulsory for 12, 13 and 14 weeks depending on the specialty chosen, technological and professional lessons and finally general lessons for about half of the weekly timetable (French, mathematics, physics-chemistry, history-geography, sport, living language etc.). At the end of their training and to validate their diploma, students must take a final exam. It is also possible to obtain the diploma via the validation of acquired experience (VAE). During his studies, the student prepares individually or collectively a “masterpiece”, which he presents at the end of the second year of CAP in front of a jury and which is the subject of an evaluation taken into account at the ‘review.
What level is required to enter a CAP?
Registration for the CAP is only possible after completing a third class, but obtaining the college certificate is not a prerequisite for access to training. Registration is done on file and, sometimes, an interview.
How long does the CAP last?
The terms are a little different for the CAP in one year which is only accessible to students of first or final class, professional, technological or general motivated to obtain a CAP, but also to young people who already have a diploma (and who will be exempted from general tests). In some cases, this CAP in one year can be offered to 3rd class students who have a solid professional project and a good academic level. Finally, the CAP can be prepared in three years by pupils who have special needs, for example if they come from classes in Segpa or Ulis.
Industry, trade, service: The list of CAPs
There are about 200 CAP specialties in the fields of industry, commerce or services. The full list of CAPs is available at the website of the Ministry of National Education. Here are a few :
- Director props
- Early childhood educational support
- piano tuner
- shipwright
- Goods delivery driver
- Sawmill operator driver
- Laboratory technical employee
- Framer
- Versatile commercial team member
- Aesthetic cosmetics perfumery
- Florist
- Watchmaking
- chemical industries
- Installer carpenter
- Metalworker
- Fashion professions
- Tailored clothing
- Football jobs
- Plaster and insulation trades
- Agriculture professions
- Hairdressing professions
- Foundry
- pastry chef
- Pedorthist
- Fishmonger scaling
- Taxidermist
- Stonecutter
The CAP, and after?
The CAP can be an end in itself and some students decide to enter working life after graduation. But the CAP is also the first step in a longer course and other diplomas to come. After obtaining the CAP, students have the opportunity to enter the first professional class to prepare for a BAC pro, to prepare, depending on their specialty, a crafts certificate (BMA), or to do a complementary mention (MC) or complementary local initiative training (FCIL) in one year. They can also prepare another CAP or register for the Professional Certificate.
According to figures from the Ministry of National Education, in 2019-2020, more than half of young people preparing for a CAP did so under the apprentice status. CAP students represent 22% of all apprentices in France. To do a CAP in alternation, it is essential to be between 16 and 30 years old (while there are no age limits for a classic CAP) and to have finished third class. In addition, the student must sign a apprenticeship contract with an employer. The contract gives the student the status of apprentice. He is thus considered as a worker and as such benefits from social security coverage like any other employee. He is of course paid, including during his training period at the CFA. This training time is obviously shorter than during a “classic” CAP, but the student receives the lessons necessary to prepare for the diploma provided for in the apprenticeship contract.