Preparation for the federal PET diploma

The PET diploma examination is aimed at initial specialisation and enhancement of knowledge following vocational education. Students who pass this are awarded a federal PET diploma, the qualification usually required for admission to the advanced PET examination.

Students preparing for Federal PET examinations: change since 2000/01
	2000/01	2005/06	2010/11	2015/16	2017/18
Total	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

Source: FSO – Statistics on pupils and students (SDL)
Data as of: February 2019

The number of students enrolled in a preparatory course for a PET¹ saw a large increase between 2000/01 and 2017/18 (+104%). The proportion of foreign students remained quite stable during the period under observation (between 8% and 11% of students). With regard to the proportion of women, it remained stable at between 37% and 40% of students.

^{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).}

During the 2017/18 academic year, more than 40% of the 18 435 students preparing for a PET examination were enrolled in courses in the fields of Management and administration (22%), Accounting and taxation (12%) and Wholesale and retail sale (10%). The distribution of students by gender varied greatly between the different fields.