COIP - Professional guidance and initiation courses

General information

Guidance and professional initiation classes (Cours d’orientation et d’initiation professionnelles - COIP) enable young people to build a realistic career plan through meetings with managers who present their professions.

In addition to refresher courses on basic skills, training placements in companies allow young people to validate their career plans and gain some first-time professional experience. The COIP programme lasts for 1 year.

Young people being at least 18 years old

• first who do not meet the conditions to access the vocational regime of general secondary education (Enseignement secondaire général - ESG),
• second who do not have the required skills to enter the job market, or
• finally who left school early,

can attend guidance and professional initiation classes (COIP) in order to re-enter the education and training system.

COIP allow the young person to:

• first prepare for working life,
• second move towards the vocational regime of general secondary education (ESG) or,
• finally re-enter a lower level ESG class.

Practical and general education

COIP include:

• first a practical and vocational component (workshop and placements in companies),
• second a general education component delivered in modules.

They are organised into the following 12 vocational fields: