BTS and HND in Cameroon: short post-secondary qualifications
The Brevet de technicien supérieur (BTS), on the French-speaking side, and the Higher National Diploma (HND), on the English-speaking side, are the two main two-year vocational qualifications after the Baccalauréat or GCE A Level. They are taught mostly in private institutes, but the exam is national and run by MINESUP through its National Committee for the Organisation of National Exams and Competitive Entrance Examinations (CNOENC). This page covers the requirements, specialities, fees, calendar and recent results.
Information checked on
At a glance
- Run by
- MINESUP (CNOENC)
- Length
- 2 years (+1 preparatory year in health)
- Entry
- Baccalauréat, Brevet de technicien or A Level (2 subjects)
- 2026 exam fees
- 35,500 to 55,500 CFA francs
- Registration
- examensdauq.com or the CNOENC app
BTS and HND: who can sit the exam
According to the 23 December 2025 press releases opening the 2026 session, an internal candidate must be presented by an authorised institution and show two years of training, plus a preparatory year for medical and biomedical courses. The required entry qualification is the Brevet de technicien, the Baccalauréat or the GCE A Level in at least two subjects (excluding religion) at a single sitting; a foreign qualification needs an equivalence. External candidates are those who have already failed and are no longer presented by an institution. Repeaters keep marks of 10/20 or above and only resit the other papers.
The HND serves English-speaking candidates and the BTS French-speaking ones. The two qualifications have separate lists of specialities and are not interchangeable. For the 2026 session, only institutions authorised in 2024 or earlier (2023 for health courses) could enter candidates for the BTS.
Specialities and exam fees
The 2026 BTS press release lists more than 130 specialities in five fee categories: management, accounting, insurance or statistics in category A; journalism and communication in B; hospitality and tourism in C; banking, electrical engineering or agro-pastoral studies in D; and in category E, the largest, everything from software engineering, nursing and midwifery to car mechanics and fashion design. The HND uses the same price scale.
| Category | Fee | Example BTS specialities | Example HND specialities |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 35,500 CFA francs | Accounting and business management, insurance, international trade | Banking and Finance, Insurance, International Trade |
| B | 40,500 CFA francs | Journalism, corporate communication | Journalism, Software Engineering |
| C | 45,500 CFA francs | Hotel management, culinary arts | Computer Science Networks, Electrical Power System |
| D | 50,500 CFA francs | Banking and finance, electrical engineering, human resources | Civil Engineering Technology, Human Resource Management |
| E | 55,500 CFA francs | Software engineering, nursing, midwifery, car maintenance | Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Laboratory Studies, Networks and Security |
For the BTS there is also a 3,000 CFA franc fee for supervising the internship report presentation and, for late registration, a 10,000 CFA franc penalty. The cost of the training itself, set by each institute, is covered on the page on the cost of higher education.
2026 session calendar
| Stage | BTS | HND |
|---|---|---|
| Session opened | 23 December 2025 | 23 December 2025 |
| Application deadline (BTS) | 13 March 2026 (online submission by the 14th) | See the press release |
| Practical exams | 21-25 April 2026 | 21-25 April 2026 |
| Written exams | 8-13 June 2026 | 16-21 June 2026 |
| Centres | Bandjoun, Douala, Garoua, Yaoundé (annexes in Bertoua, Ebolowa, Obala) | Bamenda, Buea, Douala, Yaoundé |
| Results | 20 August 2026 | 20 August 2026 |
Recent results
In the 2026 BTS, according to MINESUP figures reported by Camer.be on 19 August 2026, 2,216 of 15,623 candidates passed, a rate of 14.19%. Littoral (14.27%) and Centre (14.20%) did best, Adamawa (10%) worst. The same article gives a 40.48% pass rate for 2025. For the 2026 HND, the private institute BIT in Buea reports 19,534 candidates and a national pass rate of 54.79%. After the session, 109 candidates were sanctioned for cheating (45 in the BTS, 64 in the HND), some barred until 2028.
| Session | Candidates | Passed | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| BTS 2026 | 15,623 | 2,216 | 14.19% |
| BTS 2025 | Not published | Not published | 40.48% (disputed, see below) |
| HND 2026 | 19,534 | Not published | 54.79% |
BTS and HND graduates from private institutes can receive the 50,000 CFA franc excellence bonus: 13,692 did so for 2021-2022.
Recognition and further study
The BTS and HND are national qualifications awarded by the state, provided the student followed an authorised course at an accredited institution and passed the national exam. A BTS or HND advertised as â100% onlineâ is not recognised, as MINESUP pointed out on 1 October 2026. For further study, several public schools run entrance exams into the third year (IUT Douala, ENSPY, EGEM, IUT NgaoundĂ©rĂ©); whether BTS or HND holders qualify depends on each exam decision, and admission is not automatic. The IUTs also prepare the DUT, and IUT Douala runs a BTS track in EdĂ©a.
Frequently asked questions
How much does BTS registration cost in Cameroon?
From 35,500 to 55,500 CFA francs depending on the speciality for the 2026 session, plus 3,000 CFA francs for the internship report presentation.
What was the 2026 BTS pass rate in Cameroon?
14.19%: 2,216 passes out of 15,623 candidates, according to MINESUP figures published by Camer.be.
What was the 2026 HND pass rate?
54.79% nationally out of 19,534 candidates, according to the Buea Institute of Technology.
What is the difference between the BTS and the HND?
The BTS serves candidates from the French-speaking subsystem, the HND those from the English-speaking one. Both take two years and are run by MINESUP, with separate lists of specialities.
Where can you see BTS and HND results?
On the MINESUP website, which publishes one file per speciality (on 20 August in 2026), and on the examensdauq.com platform.
Can you do a bachelor's degree after a BTS in Cameroon?
Some public schools recruit into the third year by exam, but admission for BTS or HND holders is not automatic: check each exam's conditions.
Handle with care
The 2025 BTS pass rate is disputed: 40.48% according to Camer.be, around 68% according to other news sites. No official release giving overall pass rates was found, as MINESUP only publishes lists of successful candidates. The 2026 HND figure comes from a private institute. The available sources do not establish when the national BTS and HND exams began, or where the DSEP and HPD fit in.