The BTS Notarial Legal Assistant (CJN) is described by legal orientation professionals as the BTS closest to a pure law BTS. For an STMG profile, this is a structural advantage: the program involves real estate law, family law, and the drafting of notarial deeds, subjects where the management culture acquired in STMG facilitates the understanding of property mechanisms.
BTS CJN after a STMG bac: civil law foundation and Parcoursup selection
On Parcoursup, selection is based on the academic record and the motivation letter. Grades in economics-law, management, and French are heavily weighted. A STMG graduate presenting a consistent record in these subjects is not at a disadvantage compared to a general bac, provided they demonstrate a specific motivation for notarial work.
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We recommend targeting high schools where the BTS CJN has a high insertion rate in professional licenses. Some institutions have established partnerships with universities offering the professional license in notarial professions, which secures the continuation of studies. Checking these agreements before ranking preferences is a reflex to adopt from the Parcoursup phase.
A comprehensive guide on studies to become a notary after the bac allows for visualizing each stage and anticipating the prerequisites specific to the notarial field.
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Professional license in notarial professions: the stage where the future is decided
The professional license in notarial professions is the technical lock of the pathway. Without it, access to the notary diploma through the professional route remains closed to holders of a BTS CJN. This bac+3 level diploma consolidates the civil law foundation (obligations, property, securities) that the BTS addresses in an applied manner but not in sufficient depth for what follows.
The program of this professional license requires courses in general civil law, company law, and notarial taxation. For a student coming from STMG and then the BTS CJN, the qualitative leap lies in the rigor of theoretical legal analysis. The civil law tutorials require a capacity for syllogistic reasoning that the BTS does not sufficiently work on.
We observe that students who succeed best at this stage are those who started reading civil law doctrine as early as the second year of BTS. Regularly consulting notarial journals and practicing case commentaries before entering the professional license significantly reduces the methodological shock.
Internship in a notarial office: an underestimated selection lever
The professional license includes a long internship in a notarial office. This internship is not a formality. The internship supervisors evaluate the intern’s ability to draft deed projects, manage a succession or real estate sale file from start to finish. A successful internship in a recognized office carries significant weight in the application file for the DESN.
Prioritizing an office that handles varied cases (real estate, family, business) rather than one specialized in a single area allows for acquiring the versatility expected by selection juries.
Access to the DESN: national selection and specifics for short pathways
Since the 2020-2021 reform, the notarial professional pathway is structured around the INFN (National Institute of Notarial Training) and the DESN, a diploma classified at the bac+7 level. National selection now takes into account short professionalizing pathways (BTS + professional license), and not just traditional notarial law master’s degrees.
Profiles from technological bacs are increasingly present in applications for the DESN. The condition: having validated a true civil law foundation through the professional license or a law degree before entering training. A pathway of STMG, BTS CJN, professional license in notarial professions meets this criterion, provided that academic results are solid throughout the course.
Selection criteria and points of vigilance
The selection jury for the DESN examines several elements that should be anticipated from the BTS:
- Academic results throughout the post-bac pathway, with particular attention to civil law and real estate law subjects. A consistent profile is preferred over a brilliant but irregular one.
- Professional experience in a notarial office, counted in months of internship or apprenticeship. Candidates with multiple experiences in an office have a measurable advantage.
- The motivation letter, which must demonstrate a concrete knowledge of the notary profession (not an idealized view). Mentioning types of deeds drafted or files followed during the internship lends credibility to the application.
The DESN trains alternately over two years, combining courses at the INFN and practice in an office. This alternation is paid, which is a significant argument for students who have already financed several years of post-bac studies.
Notarial law: skills to consolidate for an STMG profile
A STMG graduate arrives in higher education with a foundation in applied law but without university legal methodology. This gap can be filled, provided that three specific skills are worked on:
- Syllogistic reasoning: major premise (rule of law), minor premise (facts), conclusion. This is the backbone of all university legal exercises, from practical cases to case commentaries.
- Mastery of precise legal vocabulary: in notarial law, a wrongly used word in a deed can lead to its nullity. Terminological rigor is acquired through regular reading of the Civil Code and standard deeds.
- Structured writing: university law papers follow a plan in two parts, two sub-parts. This formal architecture is neither taught in high school nor in BTS, but it conditions the results in the professional license.
Working on these three skills from the first year of BTS allows one to enter the professional license with a methodological level comparable to that of a student from a traditional law degree. The STMG pathway to notarial work is longer in methodological learning, but it offers practical knowledge of the profession that the pure university route only provides at the end of the course.