General education

In 2021, some 42 417 diplomas were awarded for general education courses at the upper secondary level, meaning an increase of almost 75% compared to the year 2000. This is for the most part due to the federal vocational Baccalaureate, which has more than doubled since 2000. Between 2000 and 2021, the overall proportion of women in general education courses showed an increase (from 53% to 57%). For the Baccalaureate, it rose from 54% to 59% and for the federal vocational Baccalaureate from 36% to 47%.

Diplomas in general education by training type, change in numbers since 2000
Training type	2000	2010	2015	2020	2021
Total	24 131	36 364	39 732	42 666	42 417
Male	11 462	15 723	17 272	18 364	18 041
Female	12 669	20 641	22 460	24 302	24 376
Baccalaureates	15 027	18 759	18 566	19 090	18 510
Male	6 903	7 940	7 932	8 017	7 597
Female	8 124	10 819	10 634	11 073	10 913
Federal vocational baccalaureates	6 475	12 249	14 023	14 411	14 500
Male	4 151	6 612	7 507	7 700	7 731
Female	2 324	5 637	6 516	6 711	6 769
Specialised baccalaureates	.	1 357	2 525	3 165	3 421
Male	.	212	487	744	813
Female	.	1 145	2 038	2 421	2 608
Transition programme Vocational baccalaureate - University¹	.	487	773	1 032	1 081
Male	.	286	455	554	586
Female	.	201	318	478	495
Transition programme Specialised baccalaureate - University¹	.	.	.	246	320
Male	.	.	.	88	104
Female	.	.	.	158	216
Specialised school certificates	1 865	3 357	3 845	4 722	4 585
Male	326	636	891	1 261	1 210
Female	1 539	2 721	2 954	3 461	3 375
Other programmes of general education	764	155	.	.	.
Male	82	37	.	.	.
Female	682	118	.	.	.

1 Certificates of university aptitude test Source: FSO – Statistics on certificates (SBA)
Data as of: June 2022

General education covers the three types of baccalaureate as well as courses in one of the upper secondary specialised schools. The Baccalaureate is awarded, depending on the canton, after three or four years, the federal vocational Baccalaureate is awarded either during or after initial vocational education and the specialised Baccalaureate is awarded one year after the specialised diploma.

Between 2000 and 2021, the number of baccalaureates has increased dramatically (+70%). All three types of baccalaureate have contributed to this increase: the Baccalaureate, with an increase in diplomas of 25%; the specialised Baccalaureate, which was first introduced in 2006; and especially the federal vocational Baccalaureate, which recorded a large rise in numbers between 2000 and 2005. A striking increase has been seen in the share of women taking baccalaureates: in 2000 the percentage of female candidates was just under 50%; in 2021 it was 55%.