That's it, the serious stuff has started. Since this week in most academies, you have the possibility to register to take your pastry CAP in 2018. It's not super complicated but I still propose to take stock of the different possibilities available to you.
First of all, know that registration is open to everyone, without any diploma or nationality requirement, you just need to be over 18 years old. If you have a bac level (French) or higher, you will be exempt from certain tests (if you can present a copy of your diploma), but we will discuss this in more detail in another article.
Registration takes place in 3 stages:
– first an online pre-registration (between October and November depending on your academy see table below)
– the academy sends you a file to return with all supporting documents
– confirmation with the return of your paper file in December
After that, you won't hear from the academy again until your summons to sit the exam in May or June.
| Academy | Online registration dates | Deadline to return the paper file |
Academy website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aix-Marseille (13) | Between October 12 and November 17 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-aix-marseille.fr/ |
| Amiens (80) | Between October 11 and November 20 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-amiens.fr/ |
| Besançon (25) | Between October 12 and November 20 | December 15 | https://www.ac-besancon.fr/ |
| Bordeaux (33) | Between October 12 and November 16 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-bordeaux.fr/ |
| Caen (14) | Between October 11 and November 24 | December 8 | https://www.ac-caen.fr |
| Clermont-Ferrand (63) | Between October 12 and November 17 | December 4 | https://www.ac-clermont.fr/ |
| Corsica (20) | Between October 11 and November 24 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-corse.fr/ |
| Créteil (94) | Between October 12 and November 14 | Indicated during online registration | https://ocean.siec.education.fr/ |
| Dijon (21) | Between October 12 and November 20 https://www.siec.education.fr | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-dijon.fr/ |
| Grenoble (38) | Between October 16 and November 21 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-grenoble.fr/ |
| Guadeloupe (971) | Awaiting information for 2018 (For 2017, it was October 12, 2016) |
Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-guadeloupe.fr/ |
| French Guiana (973) | Awaiting information for 2018 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-guyane.fr/ |
| Réunion (974) | Between October 24 and November 15 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-reunion.fr/ |
| Lille (59) | Between October 12 and November 17 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-lille.fr/ |
| Limoges (87) | Between October 12 and November 16 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-limoges.fr/ |
| Lyon (69) | Between October 12 and November 17 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-lyon.fr/ |
| Martinique (972) | Between October 12 and November 8 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-martinique.fr/ |
| Montpellier (37) | Between October 12 and November 17 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-montpellier.fr/ |
| Nancy-Metz (54, 55 and 88) | Between October 18 and November 24 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/ |
| Nantes (44) | Between October 13 and November 17 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-nantes.fr/ |
| Nice (06) | Between October 19 and November 23 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-nice.fr/ |
| Orléans-Tours | Between October 17 and November 24 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-orleans-tours.fr/ |
| Paris (75) | Between October 12 and November 14 | December 15 | https://www.siec.education.fr |
| Poitiers (86) | Between October 12 and November 17 | December 5 | https://www.ac-poitiers.fr/ |
| Reims (51) | Between October 11 and November 22 | December 5 | https://www.ac-reims.fr/ |
| Rennes (35) | Between October 16 and November 22 | December 14 | https://www.ac-rennes.fr/ |
| Rouen (76) | Between October 11 and November 15 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-rouen.fr/ |
| Strasbourg (67) | Between October 10 and November 14 | November 24 | https://www.ac-strasbourg.fr/ |
| Toulouse (31) | Between October 11 and November 17 | December 1 | https://www.ac-toulouse.fr/ |
| Versailles (78) | Between October 12 and November 14 | Indicated during online registration | https://www.siec.education.fr |
| St-Pierre and Miquelon (97500) |
Awaiting information for 2018 (For 2017, it was December 1, 2016) |
Indicated during online registration | https://www.ac-spm.fr/ |
| Mayotte (97600) | Between October 24 and November 14 | December 7 | https://www.ac-mayotte.fr/ |
| Wallis and Futuna (98) | No information available | No information available | https://www.ac-wf.wf/ |
Once registrations are open, you just need to go to your academy's website and follow the procedure. Don't forget to check "independent candidate" of course but also "Full form" (the progressive form being for candidates choosing to take their CAP over 2 years).
You must also mention your last diploma obtained issued by the National Education system with the academy and the year you obtained it. This will allow you to be exempt from French, Math, History-Geography and Sport tests. If your diploma is not French or not issued by the National Education system (typically diplomas issued by the Ministry of Labor), you will have to take all the tests.
Small piece of advice: still ask yourself whether you really want to be exempt from general tests. These are files to prepare that are admittedly a bit lengthy, but not difficult. It can allow you to secure some points if time is not a major constraint for you.
If you took but did not obtain a CAP or BEP during the last 5 years, you can also ask to keep the marks obtained above the average. You just need to check the test you want to keep. You will then have to indicate: the academy, the year you obtained the diploma and the mark obtained.
Finally, you can choose whether or not to take the optional tests which are foreign language and sport. For the foreign language, you have a choice between 7 languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Literary Arabic, Modern Hebrew. The level required being that of 9th grade, it might be worth signing up to grab a few extra points (only marks above 10 will be counted and an absence from the test is not eliminatory).
For sport, you will be automatically exempt if you are exempt from general subjects but you can request an exemption even if you take the other tests. However be careful! If you register for the test, not showing up is eliminatory!
And now, there's nothing left to do but go!
