Brief Review

Exams & Certifications

In most cantons, during the primary school years, academic assessment is done using a system of marks. A report is generated two or three times a year in which marks are given for each subject. The average mark at the end of the school year, either for all subjects or for certain key subjects, is used as a basis for deciding whether the pupil should advance temporarily or permanently into a higher class. In this system, this decision is not taken on the basis of results obtained in end-of-year examinations but according to an assessment of performance (including periodic tests) during the year.
In lower secondary school continuous assessment throughout the school year is usually the responsibility of the teacher, though some standard exams are school-wide and some are canton-wide. Pupils advance on the basis of their work over the whole year, given they receive a sufficiently high average mark in the main subjects of native language, second language, and mathematics. If a pupil is not put into a higher class, he or she must repeat the year or go into a section with lower requirements. Marks are given on a scale of 1 to 6 (6 = excellent) with the average being 4.

There is no national system of assessment in Switzerland, nor a general examination at the end of lower secondary school. In some cantons pupils can take a written and oral examination in their main subjects in order to get a certificate, in other cantons this is not done. At this point, compulsory education ends and the student can choose to continue on to the upper secondary level, if desired. Depending on the canton, the student will either be admitted directly to an upper level secondary school based upon his good marks, or may need to take an entrance examination first.

Upper secondary education takes place either in academic high schools, which prepare students to go on to university, technical high schools, which prepare them for non-university training in fields such as teaching, health care, social work, administration, and the arts, or vocational training with apprenticeships so students can gain job experience immediately.