Swiss Education Report | 2018 THE SWISS EDUCATION SYSTEM PhD Doctorate Advanced Federal 8 Master (5 years) PET Diploma 7 Federal PET Bachelor (3 years) PET College Diploma Diploma 6 8 5 4 7 7 7 3 UNIVERSITIES PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION FOR 2 INCL. FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES EDUCATION AND FEDERAL PET DIPLOMA INSTITUTES OF OF TEACHER UNIVERSITIES OF TRAINING (PET) AND ADVANCED FEDERAL TRAINING (CET) AND CONTINUING EDUCATION 5 TERTIARY 1 TECHNOLOGY 6 EDUCATION 6 APPLIED SCIENCES 6 COLLEGES 6 PET DIPLOMA 2 Transition 2: Federal Vocational 2 Baccalaureate or Specialised Baccalaureate ≥ Universities 1 (additional exam) Specialised Baccalaureate + 1 Transition 1: Baccalaureate ≥ Specialised School Federal Vocational Baccalaureate + Baccalaureate Certificate Federal VET Diploma Universities of applied sciences (practical training) Specialised School Federal VET Certificate Federal VET Diploma Certificate Option 24 34 SPECIALISED BACCALAU- Option 24 4 REATE PROGRAMME 34 34 3 VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND 2 3 TRAINING (APPRENTICESHIP) VOCATIONAL BACCALAUREATE UPPER SECONDARY Federal Vocational Baccalaureate during EDUCATION AND UPPER SEC. 1 SCHOOLS 34 SPECIALISED SCHOOLS 34 the apprenticeship (option 1)4 35 TRAINING3 35 BRIDGE YEAR COURSES BACCALAUREATE 11 PREP. SCHOOLS LOWER SECONDARY LEVEL2 10 Performance-based grouping LOWER SEC. LOWER 9 2 8 7 PRIMARY LEVEL1 Children and adolescents with Including kindergarten or first learning cycle 6 special educational needs Support through special measures 5 from birth up to age 20 4 The responsibility for the precise arrangement of special needs 3 1 education during compulsory First learning cycle education (special schools, special 2 classes, special support integrated Kindergarten in regular classes, etc.) lies with the PRIMARY 1 020 020 / 1 cantons and is not shown on the chart. Compulsory education © EDK CDIP CDEP CDPE, February 2017 ISCED | International Standard 1 Two years of kindergarten or the first two years of a first learning cycle: Classification of Education 2011 included in compulsory education in the majority of cantons 2 ISCED 8 Lower secondary level: 4-year scuola media in the Canton of Ticino (pursuant to exception clause in Art. 6 HarmoS Agreement) ISCED 7 3 Vocational education and training (apprenticeship): training company + ISCED 6 VET school + intercompany courses; full-time school education possible ISCED 4 4 Federal Vocational Baccalaureate: combined with an apprenticeship ISCED 34 + 35 (option 1) or after an apprenticeship (option 2); duration option 2: full-time 1 year, part-time 1.5 – 2 years ISCED 2 5 Federal PET examination / Federal PET diploma = ISCED 6 ISCED 1 Advanced federal PET examination / Advanced federal PET ISCED 020 diploma = ISCED 7 Swiss Education Report | 2018 Aarau, 2018 skbf | csre Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education Entfelderstrasse 61, 5000 Aarau www.skbf-csre.ch Project director: Stefan C. Wolter Project coordinator: Stefanie Hof Authors: Stefan C. Wolter, Maria A. Cattaneo, Stefan Denzler, Andrea Diem, Stefanie Hof, Ramona Meier, Chantal Oggenfuss English version: Apostrophgroup, Lausanne; Monty Sufrin, Bigenthal Organisation: Andrea Jossen Art concept: belle vue – Sandra Walti, Aarau Text and figures: Peter Meyer, SCCRE Photographs: Flavia Schaub isbn 978-3-905684-18-6 Table of contents 5 Foreword by the report commissioners 9 Introduction 13 General context of the Swiss education system 31 Compulsory education 51 Primary school level 77 Lower-secondary education 99 Upper-secondary education 111 Vocational education and training 135 Baccalaureate schools 159 Upper-secondary specialised schools 169 Tertiary-level education 197 Universities 221 Universities of applied sciences 241 Universities of teacher education 265 Professional education 279 Continuing education and training 295 Cumulative effects 313 Bibliography 327 Annex Foreword by the report commissioners Foreword by the report commissioners  6 You are holding the third issue of the Swiss Education Report in your hands. This reference work on education in Switzerland provides a compact and up- to-date overview of our education system. It is organised according to educa- tional level and considers the aspects of effectiveness, efficiency and equity. A REFERENCE WORK ON EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND | First published in 2010, the Education Report has become well established and is now an important ref- erence work for many players in the world of education. It answers numer- ous questions and at the same time highlights the areas in which we lack re- liable knowledge. What do we know about the impact of class size on pupils’ performance? How high is the drop-out rate at universities and do we know why students break off their studies? What is the link between educational careers and the skills tested by PISA? What educational returns do the var- ious study courses offer? DECISION-MAKING ON THE BasIS OF RELIABLE KNOWLEDGE | People making educa- tion policy decisions or involved in quality development need access to reli- able knowledge. There is a plethora of studies and research results out there. New reports appear on an almost daily basis, which the media love to pounce on and chatter about. However, education policy-makers and players in edu- cation need reliably and expertly presented research results. The results that prove to be relevant and reliable are drawn together by the Education Report. It is addressed at anyone with an interest in educational issues, whether in the communes or cantons, or at intercantonal, national or international level. THE KEY PRODUCT IN EDUCATION MONITORING | The Federal Constitution requires the Confederation and the cantons, within the scope of their constitution- ally assigned powers, to jointly ensure the high quality and accessibility of the Swiss Education Area. A system of education monitoring has been built up in order to fulfil this mandate. This instrument forms the basis for devel- oping education, funding and advisory offerings; reinforcing cooperation among educational players; examining the processes at work at transitions in education; ensuring the permeability of the education system; and main- taining the systematic nature of qualifications and the connectivity between them. FURTHER DEVELOPING OBJECTIVES IN EDUCATION POLICY | The information com- piled in the Education Report allows us to make a more reliable assessment of the quality and permeability of the education system than was the case in 2010. It provides the Confederation and the cantons with a basis for as- sessing the impact of measures and the extent to which their jointly formu- lated policy objectives have been achieved, and for developing these meas- ures and objectives further. It also creates a picture of the quality of the data available in the various fields and at the various levels of the education sys- tem. Information gaps make it difficult to make sound assessments or plan measures; this report helps to identify such gaps, and further studies will help to close them. DIGITALIsaTION CREATES NEW OPPORTUNITIES | The Education Report does more than provide a statement of account for the Swiss education system. It spurs us to think about future developments: data acquisition and data analysis, for example. Digitalisation, that much-discussed topic, offers many ways of en- skbf | csre Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education Foreword by the report commissioners 7 riching education reporting. It gives access to ever greater amounts of infor- mation, which can be linked intelligently, allowing us to better describe and understand the quality and permeability of the education system in Switzer- land. This creates considerable scope for improving the quality of the system. MUCH ACHIEVED; THE CHALLENGES AHEAD | Looking back at eight years of edu- cation reporting in Switzerland, it is clear that we have managed to obtain systematically prepared and reliable information for many areas of the sys- tem. This information is used to develop quality, plan measures and draw up strategic objectives. One of the challenges ahead is to improve the usability of increasing amounts of data, so that causal relations can be better under- stood and further insight gained into the education system. We would like to thank everyone who was involved in compiling this com- prehensive report. Bern, June 2018 Education Monitoring Switzerland For the report commissioners Susanne Hardmeier Mauro Dell’Ambrogio Secretary General State Secretary Swiss Conference of Cantonal State Secretariat for Education, Ministers of Education Research and Innovation Swiss Education Report | 2018 Introduction Introduction  10 Structure and aim of the Report The 2018 Education Report has been structured in the same way as the 2010 and 2014 versions. All education levels and education types are described in dedicated chapters based on the available administrative information, statis- tics and research. The individual chapters on each level and type also include analysis of exogenous factors that impact on education, as well as analysis of the outcomes. These refer to the effects of education on the individual and on society as a whole from a biographical or longer-term perspective. The chapters on compulsory education, upper-secondary education and tertiary-level education cover topics that span different education types. Such topics are either relevant to all education types or can be used for the purposes of a comparative perspective in which the various types are com- pared and contrasted. As in the