General education

In 2021/22, almost 117 500 students were enrolled in a general education programme. 59% of them were young women and 21% 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	2021/22
Total	87 407	99 659	106 336	115 592	117 538
Female (%)	59.1	58.0	58.5	58.9	58.6
Foreign (%)	12.5	16.9	19.3	20.6	20.9
Vocational baccalaureate¹	5 288	7 572	9 496	11 109	11 236
Female (%)	44.8	47.6	48.7	50.7	52.0
Foreign (%)	10.1	7.7	9.6	10.3	10.5
Baccalaureate	68 040	70 821	70 501	73 261	74 670
Female (%)	56.4	56.2	57.0	57.7	57.2
Foreign (%)	12.0	11.8	13.6	15.1	15.4
Upper secondary specialised schools	13 041	13 059	14 890	17 845	18 009
Female (%)	78.4	75.0	73.2	70.4	69.6
Foreign (%)	16.6	19.9	21.9	22.1	22.5
Specialised baccalaureate	.	1 465	2 824	3 900	3 816
Female (%)	.	81.6	78.3	74.3	74.3
Foreign (%)	.	11.9	16.6	14.9	15.2
Teaching professions	332	.	.	.	.
Female (%)	82.2	.	.	.	.
Foreign (%)	2.4	.	.	.	.
Other programmes of general education	706	500	707	665	717
Female (%)	59.5	58.4	54.7	55.9	53.7
Foreign (%)	9.5	14.6	12.3	14.1	15.5
Foreign programmes of general education	.	6 242	7 918	8 812	9 090
Female (%)	.	50.2	49.9	49.3	50.4
Foreign (%)	.	81.5	77.9	78.4	78.5

1 Federal vocational baccalaureate after vocational education and training (VB2) Source: FSO – Statistics on pupils and students (SDL)
Data as of: February 2023

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 34% between 2005/06 and 2021/22. Compared to the previous year the number of students increased by 2%.

The three specific options most frequently chosen in baccalaureate schools in 2021/22 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/Education. 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 options¹Economy 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}