General education

In 2022/23, almost 118 400 students were enrolled in a general education programme. 59% of them were young women and 22% were of foreign nationality. The majority of students enrolled in this type of education are in a school leading to an academic Baccalaureate (64%) or in an upper secondary specialised school (19%, including specialised Baccalaureate).

Students in general education programmes, change in numbers since 2005/06
  2005/06 2010/11 2015/16 2020/21 2022/23
Total 87 407 99 659 106 336 115 593 118 436
  Female (%) 59.1 58.0 58.5 58.9 58.5
  Foreign (%) 12.5 16.9 19.3 20.6 21.9
5 288 7 572 9 496 11 109 10 387
  Female (%) 44.8 47.6 48.7 50.7 52.7
  Foreign (%) 10.1 7.7 9.6 10.7 12.0
68 040 70 821 70 501 73 261 75 850
  Female (%) 56.4 56.2 57.0 57.7 56.9
  Foreign (%) 12.0 11.8 13.6 15.2 16.3
13 041 13 059 14 890 17 845 17 898
  Female (%) 78.4 75.0 73.2 70.4 69.8
  Foreign (%) 16.6 19.9 22.0 22.3 22.9
. 1 465 2 824 3 900 4 081
  Female (%) . 81.6 78.3 74.3 73.5
  Foreign (%) . 11.9 16.7 15.1 16.2
332 . . . .
  Female (%) 82.2 . . . .
  Foreign (%) 2.4 . . . .
 706  500  707  665  651
  Female (%) 59.5 58.4 54.7 55.9 54.1
  Foreign (%) 9.5 14.6 12.9 13.8 15.4
. 6 242 7 918 8 813 9 569
  Female (%) . 50.2 49.9 49.3 50.8
  Foreign (%) . 81.5 77.7 77.8 78.6
1 Federal vocational baccalaureate after vocational education and training (VB2) Source: FSO – Statistics on pupils and students (SDL)
Data as of: February 2024

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

Overall, the number of young people enrolled in a general education course rose by 35% between 2005/06 and 2022/23. Compared to the previous year the number of students increased by 1%.

The three specific options most frequently chosen in baccalaureate schools in 2022/23 were Economy and law, Biology and chemistry and Modern Language. The Physics and applied mathematics option showed the greatest proportion of young men whereas the Visual arts option was chosen mainly by young women.

The three occupational fields with the most students in upper secondary specialised schools (including specialised baccalaureate) were Health care, Education and Social work. With one exception (Sport), young women are in the majority in all courses in this type of school.

With regard to post-apprenticeship vocational Baccalaureates, the options1 Economy and services, Health/social care and Technology, architecture, life sciences are the most popular. The Technology, architecture, life sciences option shows the highest percentage of young men, the Health/social care one the highest percentage of young women.

1 New options according to BMV (Federal vocational Baccalaureate Ordinance) 2009 collected from 2015/16

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