Course contents

Specialised middle schools provide an extensive general education, encourage individual and social skills and are geared toward preparing for vocational education and training in certain vocational fields at colleges of higher vocational education and training, and at universities of applied sciences. Learning content at the specialised middle schools is based on the framework curriculum of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education. This grants some room to manoeuvre, so that it is possible to address cantonal or local requirements and to develop a particular school-specific profile.

Specialised middle schools offer general educational subjects and vocationally oriented.

The general educational comprises:

In most cantons, international foreign language certificates can be obtained, or corresponding preparatory courses can be attended. The specialised middle school certificate can now also be obtained in 2 languages (certificat bilingue).

Vocationally oriented subjects...

teach vocation-specific basic knowledge of specific vocational fields and prepare for training in the following fields: health, social work, education, communication and information, design and arts, music and theatre, as well as applied psychology. The students choose 1 or 2 vocational fields; vocationally oriented teaching begins in the second school year. Additionally, practical work and an independently conducted assignment relating to a certain topic are compulsory parts of specialised middle school education. In most cases, the specialised middle schools do not offer vocationally oriented teaching in all fields. In most cantons, they mainly provide preparation for the vocational fields of health, social work and education.

Specialised matura

In order to achieve the specialised matura, a specialised matura assignment must be completed and, depending on the vocational field, various additional requirements, such as practical work in the selected vocational field, individual practical activities and, for the vocational field of education, a supplementary general education. The Regulations on the Recognition of Certificates from Specialised Middle Schools and the guidelines from the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) define the additional requirements to be performed for the various vocational fields.