Education in Switzerland
Switzerland has always ranked as one of Europe’s best destinations for education. The choices include a highly rated state system, bilingual and international schools and an elite boarding school network. Sally Robinson explores the opportunities for international families.
Above: Students from Haut Lac International Bilingual School
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witzerland has always been a popular destination for the globally mobile thanks to its multicultural population, well-developed economy and spectacular natural environment.
According to the Federal Statistics Office (FSO) there
were 2.2 million expats living in Switzerland in 2022, accounting for 25 per cent of the country’s population. Last year, immigration increased by 14 per cent, largely due to an ongoing skills shortage in Switzerland. Most international families live in German-speaking
Zurich, Switzerland’s most populous city, followed by French speaking Geneva. Expats love the quality of life in Switzerland, but it comes at a cost: 2022 figures from the Economist Intelligence Unit put Zurich and Geneva sixth and seventh most expensive cities in the world in which to live. The Swiss state education system consistently ranks
as one of the best in Europe, but in a multilingual country where four languages are spoken – French, German, Italian and Romansh (the latter is indigenous to Graubunden, the country’s largest canton), accessing it can be tricky for international families.
HOW THE STATE SYSTEM WORKS Responsibility for compulsory education (between ages 6 and 15/16) lies with each of Switzerland’s 26 individual cantons. There is no national curriculum, but schools must meet objectives overseen by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation. Most Swiss children (95 per cent) attend free state
schools close to their home. Being bilingual is important and most children speak at least one second language. “I advise expat parents with young children to start in the state system so their children can become fluent in German, and switch to private later,” says Stefanie Busse, founder of Zurich-based Swiss Education Consulting. The education system is divided into three phases:
primary from age six until 12, followed by lower secondary which last three years. The end of lower secondary at age 15/16 is a crossroads for students: they can officially leave school but over 90 per cent go on to get an upper secondary qualification. Upper secondary presents two options – a more
academic general education or a vocational education programme (VET). The academic general education
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