Blog · 12 September 2026

Is the Bachaloria the same as a bachelor's degree? No — here is the difference

The Bachaloria is the secondary-school certificate you apply to university with; a bachelor's is the degree you earn when you finish university. The two words share a Latin root, which is why they get mixed up.

The short answer

No. The Bachaloria is a secondary-school certificate — you earn it at the end of the third secondary year and apply to university with it. A bachelor's degree is a university degree — you earn it when you finish your faculty, such as a bachelor's in commerce or in engineering. The Bachaloria comes before university; the bachelor's comes at the end of it.

Why do the names look alike?

Because both come from the same Latin root. *Bachelor* comes from the Medieval Latin *baccalaureus*, and *baccalaureate* (the Bachaloria) from the Modern Latin *baccalaureatus*. French named its end-of-secondary-school qualification the *baccalauréat*; English named the first university degree the *bachelor's degree* — and that is where the confusion comes from.

The Egyptian Bachaloria in particular

The Egyptian Bachaloria is a secondary-school system that began in 2025/26 as an optional path alongside Thanaweya Amma. Its total, out of 600, is built up across the second and third secondary years; after that the student applies to university — which is where they study for a bachelor's.

In everyday speech

  • "A Bachaloria student" = a secondary-school student on the Bachaloria system.
  • "A bachelor's graduate" = someone who has finished university.
  • A bachelor's degree usually takes three to six years, depending on the faculty and the country.

On GoBachaloria

GoBachaloria is a platform for secondary school on the Egyptian Bachaloria system — the stage before university. Find out more about GoBachaloria.

Sources

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