diplôme

07:40 Jul 11, 2014 

I agree that degree should not be used in these 2 sentences. Certificate on its own then, without degree, is the most appropriate for a British audience, as diploma is not used to refer to the piece of paper. Diploma is used in the US, so we need to determine the target audience. North America or UK? In the UK a diploma is used to determine the level of the qualification. Certificate can have other meanings when isolated, but it is not isolated, it is well situated in its context.

17:05 Jul 10, 2014 

I would agree with you if it weren't for the fact that the phrase is not isolated but is the translation of a diploma attesting the obtention of a bachelor's degree.
The asker could use the word certificate instead of diploma but certificate also has other meanings when isolated.
But IMHO one should avoid simply calling it a degree.

If you are refering to the piece of paper and not translating the paper itself then degree certificate would be logical but only if you are sure that the qualification is indeed a degree (bachelor's master's etc). As Nikki says it is not our job as translators to accord an equivalence but to render a faithful translation of the document.

16:20 Jul 10, 2014 

There seems to be a difference betw the meaning of diploma in North America and UK. So if we're talking about the piece of paper it is confusing for a British reader.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma
Not always the best source (!) but seems pretty accurate here.

13:54 Jul 10, 2014 

I agree wholeheartedly. The advantage with this particular translation is that there is the title Bachelier which could be translated as a Bachelor's degree which removes all need to search for an equivalence between diplôme and degree or diploma. Diploma comes from the Greek to mean folded in 2 and refers to the bit of paper.
A diploma attests to the fact that you have a Master's degree or a foundation degree or a bachelor's degree or a professional qualification or anything else for that matter.
In the second phrase if you replaced it by degree it would make little sense
Un supplément est annexé au présent diplôme, donnant toutes les informations complémentaires...
A supplement is annexed to the present degree,...

10:36 Jul 10, 2014 

A degree is a diploma, all diplomas are not degrees.
Translators translate and in the matter of qualifications and so forth, have to remain entirely neutral and country-specific.
Commissions sit to determine equivalences of diplomas and it is something translators have to be very careful about. (Even if in many cases the equivalence is kind of obvious, or seems obvious, hey, even if the translator is "right"! ;-) It is just not the translator's job to transpose a qualification, but to translate. Nuance.
Certificates are often being translated with the aim of their being submitted to a commission whose job it is to determine the equivalence. So precision and neutrality are essential.