The Swiss education system in brief

A special feature is the vocational apprenticeship combining theory and practice. This basic vocational training takes place in a training company, i.e. in a private company or in a public authority, with one to two days of school per week. There are also some full-time schools.

Two-thirds of all young people choose an apprenticeship in one of the around 245 professions after completing compulsory schooling. During or after the apprenticeship, there is also the possibility of completing a vocational baccalaureate. With the vocational baccalaureate diploma, you can study at a university of applied sciences.

The universities in Switzerland offer a comprehensive, diverse, and excellent study programme. There are ten public universities (Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Berne, Basel, Lucerne, Zurich, St. Gallen and Svizzera Italiana) and two federal institutes of technology (ETH Zurich und EPF Lausanne). Numerous public universities of applied sciences offer practice-oriented university studies. The universities of teacher education train young people to become qualified teachers at the various school levels.

We recommend that you inform yourself early on about the university admission requirements, the required language skills, as well as the options for applying for a vocational apprenticeship.