Education in Switzerland
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The Swiss education system is as sophisticated and reliable as its banks. Swiss universities are valued all over the world, with more than 1 million students and pupils per 7 million inhabitants. Studying in Switzerland is not a cheap affair, which is why most students and pupils from abroad are the children of government officials and big businessmen. The rules are very strict and the admission requirements are high, but it is worth it: more than a dozen Nobel laureates have emerged from Swiss universities.
Swiss Education System
Switzerland does not have a uniform national education system. The basic structure is very similar: kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and university. The main advantages of the Swiss education system are its flexibility and multilingualism: depending on the location, the system can be offered in British-American, French, German, Swiss or Italian.
Primary and lower secondary education (from 6 to 15 years of age) are compulsory and free of charge. At the end of secondary school, children go on to secondary school (3 to 4 years more) or to a vocational education and training institute. Vocational education and training does not mean that you cannot go to university. As a rule, graduates of vocational education and training institutions go on to universities of applied sciences. Those who have completed upper secondary education obtain a school-leaving qualification and enter a university.
Schools in Switzerland
The quality of education in Swiss schools is high, in both private and public schools, and Swiss certificates are accepted without question by universities around the world.
Public schools are free for citizens. Public schools are also open to children of foreigners who have lived in Switzerland for a long time (diplomats and employees of international organisations). These schools are also open to children of foreigners who have lived in Switzerland for a long time (diplomats and employees of international organisations).
In addition to the state schools, there are more than 260 boarding schools in Switzerland. Almost all of them are geared towards foreign students. The children of bankers, politicians, Arabian sheikhs and other prominent citizens study there. These schools have the best teachers and educators, and the boarding schools are more like luxury resorts than educational institutions. They are located in the countryside, in very beautiful places, and besides studies the children go horseback riding, play tennis, go skiing and hiking.
There are many programmes in Swiss schools, but the most popular and at the same time the most challenging one is S "wiss Federal Maturite" (Matura). It is divided into five thematic areas: Ancient Languages, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Modern Languages and Latin, Modern Foreign Languages and Economics. As you may notice, the main focus in the education is on learning foreign languages, which is extremely important in Swiss schools, also because most schools are international. There are two major subjects, several minor ones and obligatory sports, art studies and etiquette. For foreigners many schools have programs in different languages.
Colleges in Switzerland
High school students have the opportunity to enter colleges in Switzerland - from the age of 15. After three years of college it is much easier to enter a Swiss university. Colleges teach accounting, information technology, hotel management and other professions. Studying takes 3 to 4 years, and the cost is lower by about 3 to 4 times than at universities.
Higher education in Switzerland
The largest university in Switzerland is the University of Zurich. It is followed by the Zurich Polytechnic School. Other universities and institutes (in total there are 12 state universities, from which 7 - classical, and 5 - specialized) considerably are smaller, however quality of training does not suffer from this.
If you are planning to study economics, St. Gallen universities are worth a look, universities in Fribourg, Lausanne and Noshatel are recommended for legal specialities, universities in Zurich for exact sciences and best of all universities in Geneva for philology. Universities training in international tourism and hospitality are also popular.
The most popular fields of study in Switzerland are medicine, which is very difficult to get into, as there is a large intake of local graduates and restrictions on enrolment of foreign students.
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