Pairs often confused
CAP or BTS in French?
Both last two years, but the CAP is taken AFTER lower secondary school and the BTS AFTER the bac: they are not the same level.
Why
The CAP trains for a manual or service trade from age fifteen or sixteen: baker, hairdresser, cook. The BTS comes after the bac and trains technicians and qualified employees: trade, tourism, accounting. On a CV, a BTS is worth « bac + 2 »; a CAP is the first vocational diploma. Both are often done as work-study programmes, which is what gets them confused.
CAP
CAP boulanger en deux ans après la troisième, en apprentissage.
Baker's CAP in two years after lower secondary school, as an apprenticeship.
BTS
BTS tourisme en deux ans après le bac, stage de 14 semaines inclus.
Tourism BTS in two years after the bac, 14-week placement included.