Tertiary level - Advanced professional education and training (PET)

Advanced professional education and training allows people who have completed upper secondary education to deepen or widen their knowledge. Advanced professional education and training consists of several study paths: professional education and training colleges, preparation for professional or advanced federal examinations governed by the Vocational and Professional Education and Training Act (VPETA) and advanced professional education and training courses not regulated by this act.

Students in advanced professional education and training, change since 2000/01

	2000/01	2005/06	2010/11	2015/16	2017/18
Total	38 674	38 151	51 280	56 660	58 991
Female (%)	43.1	43.6	44.4	43.5	44.3
Foreign (%)	9.4	10.2	14.4	11.8	11.9
Teaching professions	4 663	934	-	-	-
Female (%)	72.3	68.2	-	-	-
Foreign (%)	5.3	8.8	-	-	-
Professional colleges (forerunner of UAS)	2 222	795	-	-	-
Female (%)	52.9	65.9	-	-	-
Foreign (%)	6.3	3.3	-	-	-
Professional education and training colleges	9 213	10 173	21 867	29 786	32 756
Female (%)	26.6	28.7	45.5	46.6	46.8
Foreign (%)	10.7	10.9	11.7	12.1	12.4
Preparation for the federal PET diploma examination1	9 037	11 829	16 418	18 896	18 435
Female (%)	38.5	40.2	38.7	36.9	38.1
Foreign (%)	9.2	7.6	8.8	10.4	10.7
Preparation for the advanced federal PET diploma examination1	5 427	4 355	4 274	3 615	3 468
Female (%)	25.3	36.0	32.5	25.5	29.3
Foreign (%)	8.0	6.9	8.5	10.6	9.1
Unregulated advanced professional education and training	8 112	10 065	8 721	4 363	4 332
Female (%)	59.5	61.9	58.3	66.1	63.6
Foreign (%)	12.5	14.6	34.7	16.0	15.6

1 Students are not completely surveyed because the preparations to federal exams are not formally regulated. They often take place in modular trainings, which are only surveyed if the single module corresponds to at least half a school-year (full time equivalent).
Source: FSO – Statistics on pupils and students (SDL)
Data as of: February 2019

In the academic year of 2017/18, almost 59 000 students were recorded in advanced professional education and training. The majority (56%) were at professional education and training colleges, 37% were preparing for a federal or an advanced examination and 7% were following a training course not governed by the VEPTA. Numbers attending advanced professional education and training have risen by 53% since 2000/01, despite the transfer of some training courses to higher education institutes following the creation of the universities of applied sciences.

During the academic year 2017/18, the most popular training sectors for students in advanced professional education and training was Management and administration (17%). This was followed by the fields Nursing and Midwifery (13%) and Building and civil engineering (8%).

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Diploma - Advanced professional education and training (PET)

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