In the primary school scholastic achievements are evaluated by means of grades or learning reports. During the first school years there are no grades in the majority of the cantons, but evaluation discussions are held or learning reports issued. If grades are given, then pupil achievements are evaluated with grades from 1 to 6 (6 = best grade). For the most part, the pupils receive a report twice a year with grades in the individual subjects.
A number of cantons run projects for learning goal orientated evaluation. Pupils are given a collection of tasks of a level or class that covers the central area of the curriculum in question.

 

Transfer into the next class
A decision is made at the end of a school year as to whether pupils can be transferred into the next class on the basis of their performance. Numerous cantons have introduced learning cycles that run over several years. No class must be repeated during this learning cycle. In the primary level school year of 2000 / 2201 approx. 2 % of the pupils had to repeat a class in the primary level. The repetition rate varies depending on the school year (from 1.4.% to 2.6 %) and canton (from 0.7 % to 3.4 %).

Transfer into special schools
If the prospects for success after a repetition are low, a child frequently attends a special education school. The decision on the transfer is made in conjunction with parents, teacher, the school inspector, and the school counselling service.

Help with homework and remedial teaching
In the majority of the cantons the opportunity exists for individual pupils to receive special support in the form of remedial lessons.