Switzerland has a highly decentralised system with no federal or national Ministry of Education. Each of the 26 cantons has its own education legislation and supreme power in its educational organisation, leading to 26 systems with notable regional differences.
However, there are some ‘national’ agreements. 25 of the cantons have, for example, signed an ‘Agreement on the Coordination of Education’. This defines the age of entry to education across the 25 cantons as age 6; the duration of compulsory schooling as nine years; provides an agreed definition of the length of the school year, and on the length of education prior to the upper secondary certificate (12/13 years); and provides an agreed definition of the structure of primary education. The structure of lower secondary education differs markedly, but is usually streamed in some form.
The federal constitution allows anyone to set up a private school. Such schools are, however, subject to cantonal legislation (authorisation for setting up a school, subsidies, supervision etc). Where private schools do exist, they very rarely receive subsidies, and are more widespread in the French-speaking part of the country where they are not subsidised. At the end of their studies, students in the private sector take their examinations in special sessions organised by the federal authority.
German, French and Italian are all deemed ‘official languages’. The language of instruction is dependent upon the region.
Education is compulsory in primary and lower secondary education, usually between the ages of 6/7 and 15/16 (nine years). Compulsory education is free for all students.
The structure of compulsory primary education is identical throughout Switzerland. It lasts between four and six years, depending on the canton.
Compulsory lower secondary education prepares around 30 per cent of students for academic studies at age 15/16+ and around 70 per cent for specialist vocational education or apprenticeship. As a consequence, the diversity of cantonal systems in school organisation, choice of subjects, pace of learning, timetable allocation and approach, is most noticeable at lower secondary level.
Generally, lower secondary education is selective. Criteria for admission vary from one canton to another and may include examination results, school reports, discussion with the primary school teacher, and parental choice. In the canton of Berne, for example, schools, parents and students decide together on the appropriate stream for an individual student.
| Phases | Age range (general) |
| Primary education | Ages 6/7 – 10/12+ |
| Lower secondary | Ages 10/12+ - 15/16 |
In all cantons, children have the right to receive at least one year (sometimes two) of publicly-funded pre-school education. Attendance is voluntary, but around 99 per cent of children receive some pre-school education in the year before they start compulsory school.
Upper secondary education is not compulsory in Switzerland. It usually caters for students aged 16 – 18/19 years and is generally divided into the following types:
· The Gymnasium (or Maturitätsschule), preparing for the Matura examination and university entrance.
· Other general academic schools preparing for certain non-university professions such as those in the paramedical and social fields.
· Vocational education (chosen by some 70 per cent of young people).
· Apprenticeship training.
· Initial teacher training for pre-compulsory and primary school teachers.
Upper secondary schools enjoy considerable independence. The academic ‘sixth form colleges’ (Gymnasia or Maturitätsschulen) are selective and have a virtual monopoly over university entrance.
Course selection for upper secondary education is mainly based on the results achieved in the lower secondary phase.
Despite various efforts to reach a minimal amount of coordination between the cantons, there are no national level regulations regarding integration of students with special educational needs in ordinary, mainstream schools. At the cantonal level, however, there has been an increasing tendency towards integration over recent years, with several cantons striving towards integrating special education in the mainstream system of education. One major factor impeding efforts to integrate students with special needs in mainstream education is that ‘Federal Disability Insurance’ subsidises the education of some students with special needs in segregated special schools and classes, and will not usually subsidise mainstream, integrated education for such students. Consequently, cantons encouraging integration may have additional funds to find.
Children who are identified as ‘gifted’ during pre-compulsory education may enter compulsory primary education at a younger than normal age. This practice is, however, exceptional.
The school year in Switzerland commences between mid-August and mid-October. There is a long summer holiday which varies in length between five and nine weeks.
At primary level there is, in theory, a minimum of 38 weeks of school per year. Depending on the canton, however, the school year comprises between 36.5 and 40 weeks. At lower secondary level, there is, similarly, a minimum of 38 weeks of school each year.
At primary level, there are around 20 lessons per week. This extends, in those cantons where primary education lasts until age 12, to a total of between 34 and 36 lessons per week. In some cantons, children have all day Saturday free, whilst in others they have lessons on Saturday mornings but one afternoon or day in the week free in exchange.
At lower secondary level, the number of hours of school varies from one canton to another, but students generally have between 30 and 35 lessons per week.
The Swiss Conference of Cantonal Directors of Education has embarked on a ‘harmonisation project’ (known as ‘Project Harmos’), which will define national standards for mathematics, languages, and sciences for students in compulsory level education throughout Switzerland.
Four Regional Conferences (French-speaking Switzerland and the Ticino, north-west Switzerland, central Switzerland and eastern Switzerland), which have particularly close collaboration for linguistic, historical and geographical reasons, have created some coordination, drawing up common curricula, publishing material, jointly managing institutions and agreeing qualifications and admissions.
At primary level, the following subjects are taught in all of the cantons: a national language (German, French, Italian, or Romanic, depending on the region), a first foreign language (in most cantons, but not usually until children are at least 8 years of age), mathematics, history and civic education, geography, natural sciences, religion, drawing, handicrafts, music, writing, and physical education.
In a growing number of cantons, history and civic education, geography, natural sciences, and religion are taught in the context of the subject ‘Man and the environment’.
The following subjects are taught in all schools at the lower secondary level: a national language (German, French, Italian, or Romanic, depending on the region), a first foreign language (French or English in German Switzerland, French in Ticino, German in Western Switzerland, Italian in Grisons), mathematics, natural sciences, geography, history and civic education, home economics and handicrafts, music and drawing, and physical education.
In several cantons, the natural sciences, geography, history and civic education are taught under the collective concept of ‘Man and the environment’. In addition, there are interdisciplinary areas such as environmental education, health, sex education, intercultural education, media education, information technology, and work-related education.
Religious education is taught at primary level.
At primary and lower secondary level, history and civic education is taught. In addition, at lower secondary level students study health education, sex education, intercultural education and work related education/careers guidance.
Most cantons prescribe or approve textbooks for compulsory phase education and provide a list of recommended titles from which teachers select. These are provided free of charge during this phase.
In most cantons, primary school students are continuously assessed throughout the year. This overall assessment of their performance includes periodic tests. Some cantons have abandoned a marking/grading system in the first few years of primary school. In its place they have assessment meetings and periodic reports. Testing is usually informal, and tests are set by the class teacher, not externally.
During lower secondary education, all students are continually assessed throughout the school year. Certain schools organise written examinations for all classes, and certain cantons do the same for all schools, but in many cases the testing is informal. In some cantons, students can take an examination at the end of lower secondary education (see below).
There are no official examinations at primary level.
At the end of lower secondary education (aged 15/16), in some cantons, students can take a written and oral examination in their main subjects in order to obtain a certificate; in other cantons this is not generally the case.
At upper secondary level, there are nationally recognised standards for the examinations for the general/academic upper secondary certificate (the Maturität) and for the DMS diploma (the vocational upper secondary qualification) taken on completion of upper secondary education (age 18-19). The Gymnasium, leading to the Maturität examination, is currently the only direct route to university-type higher education. Young people choosing vocational education can usually only enter higher technical education after completing a further course in general education and passing an entrance examination.
Initial teacher training for primary and lower secondary teachers takes place in a single location, typically a pädagogische Hochschule/haute école pédagogique (PH/HEP) (pedagogical institute of higher education) attached to a university. Not all cantons maintain a PH/HEP, but most are associated with a particular one. Not all PH/HEP prepare all categories of teacher.
Initial teacher training for primary school teachers lasts three years and teachers are trained as generalists. The training generally follows a concurrent model. Lower secondary school teachers are trained as subject specialists to prepare students either for academic studies or for specialist vocational apprenticeships. The training lasts four years and generally follows a concurrent model.