Maitrise Sciences et Techniques comptables et financières

11:40 Nov 18, 2008 

From what I can gather the 'Maîtrise' is not the same as a UK master's degree. Because of the generalised nature of the French education system is was considered to be a lower qualification than a master's. That's why the 'Mastaire' and then subsequently the 'Master' was introduced - a two-year course equivalent to a (UK) master's degree. In your subsequent question 'master 2' refers to the second year of this course. I'm not absolutely sure that by qualifying the degree as a 'French Master's' degree this makes it clear to anyone who doesn't know the ins and outs of the situation what it is -as it might be interpreted as meaning the 'master's' degree as implemented in France rather than a 'maîtrise'. I'm inclined to think that the 'maîtrise' is more or less equivalent to an bachelor's honours degree (but I'm not sure).