Requirements
Teachers conduct tests during the entire matura school education. Performance is assessed with grades from 1 to 6 (6 = best grade, 4 = sufficient, below 4 = insufficient). Learning reports are not often used at matura schools. Projects involving extended student assessment, or self-assessment on the part of the students, are being conducted at a number of schools.
Transfer into the next class
Transfer to the next semester or class occurs on the basis of achievements realised (the overall average must be at least a grade of 4, a specific maximum number of unsatisfactory grades may not be exceeded).
Measures to foster particular talents
The support of talented students is usually realised in the form of individualised teaching, optional courses or the permission to skip a year. Certain cantons, as well as private bodies, provide schools or classes for particularly able students, especially in the fields of sport, music and art.
Matura assignment
The students must develop and present a larger assignment that they have prepared themselves. The matura assignment is usually handled in the penultimate or final year of the matura school education, over a period of 10 to 18 months. It counts toward the matura grades.
Matura examination
At the end of the education, a written matura examination, which may also be supplemented by an oral examination, is held in at least 5 matura subjects. The performance during the final year of education also counts in addition to the performance in the examination subjects. The examination subjects are the first national language, a second national language, mathematics, the in-depth subject, and a further subject. For the remaining subjects, the grades achieved in the last year of education in which the subject was taught are applicable.
If the matura examination is taken at a recognised matura school or at a recognised matura school for adults, a matura certificate, which is recognised throughout Switzerland, is obtained. A matura certificate can also be obtained by passing the Swiss matura examinations (see matura certificate: overview). Matura certificates from a recognised matura school are of equal value to certificates obtained via the Swiss matura examinations.
Further information
