Tom
As far as I am aware, if you do a Berufsmatura after your Apprenticeship then you have entry to a Fachhochschule where you can study for a degree of a more practical nature. If you actually wanted to go to University, you would need to study for a Passerelle or a KME. I think both courses are a year in duration, but I am not 100% sure.
As someone else pointed out, the process of application begins early and you may find it difficult to secure an Apprenticeship particularly a KV. You can also study full-time at a Handelsschule/Business School (2 years full-time study) and one year's work experience (found through the school). If you can't get into a State Handelsschule then there are private ones. Both my sons attended a private Business School. I could recommend the bi-lingual Banking KV in Minerva in Zurich and then one son went on to do a Berufsmatura in the Kantonsschule (ZH Business School). He will now do a Bachelors in Economics and IT at the Fachhochschule.
I wish you all the best for your future.
You can entry university after apprenticeship
1. after berufsmatura and passarelle
2. after your FH BSc for your uni MSc
3. after your FH MSc to get a PhD. This however needs the collaboration of a foreign university, since swiss universities don't recognise FH Masters for their PhD courses.
No ist not possible to get a regular (eidgenössische) matura during an apprenticeship. You can do the vocational matura during apprenticeship after which you still need the passarelle to go to university.
Sorry, I should also mention that you can do an Apprenticeship with a vocational matura which would negate the need for a further year's study.
now ist more precise
The lowest age requirement for this path has University of Zurich with 18 years. The others have mostly 25 or 30 years. Note that you can not get direct admission to medicine and pharmacy studies through this way.
My written german isnt as good, but it is good enough i guess. My german level is C1.
The matura diploma allows admission to any university (including ETH/EPFL) course in Switzerland and Europe. Except for medicine and pharmacy studys the admission to a Swiss university is undconditional.
The vocational matura is alongside your appreticeship. It takes 3 or four years depending how long the appreticeship is. The vocational matura allows admission to any Fachhochschule (Univeristy of applied sience). If you do the so called Passarelle (1 year) you can also get addmission to any university course in Switzerland.
If you allready know you wish to study at a University the regular matura track might be the better faster choice.
Be aware that no track is a cul-de-sac and you can allways "upgrade" at a later time.
Dentistry and veterinary medicine are also restricted.
“The number of places on human medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine courses is limited and changes from year to year.”
Still, as a Swiss national such restrictions don’t apply to the OP so he could study one of them if he wanted to.
A Berufsmatura OTOH is less deep and more focused. The most common way to that certificate is doing a Berufsmittelschule (BMS) during the apprenticeship, which results in about one additional day of school per week. The holder has gained practical knowledge in the process as he competed an apprenticeship in parallel. It is typically acuired during school/education years 9-12/13. The students typically learn a bit less quick. By necessity (less school lessons than with a Matura) the theoretical knowledge gained is much more focused and perhaps a bit less deep, but still it's enough to gain access to a Fachhochschule.
The Passerelle (an additional school year) is requried from those with a Berufsmatura to gain access to Uni/ETHZ/EPFL. That doesn't mean the Fachhochschule is a lesser institution. Rather, it's focus differs from a university's and so are the requirements.
Consider the following chart. "Berufliche Grundbildung" refers to an apprenticeship (with Berufsmatura to get admission to a Fachhochschule). The dotted lines imply some additional school, the Passerelle for those with a Berufsmatura (BMS) to gain access to Uni/ETHZ/EPFL.
Going to regular school would give you a chance to "equalise" your education, by which I mean alihgn it to the Swiss system. You have a disadvantage in German, for example, so the start might be a bit difficult, but you could quickly catch up if you attended school. On the other hand, you will definitely know some things beyond what the others in the Swiss system know.
Have a look here, for example, where you can see that you would not be alone in arriving in Switzerland at your age:
https://vsa.zh.ch/internet/bildungsd...ewanderte.html
I found the above link by googling: schule 16-jährig neu in Zürich
so you could adapt it according to the town in which your father lives.
A lot of government matters in Switzerland (like schools) are organised according to canton, and then by the rules of each municipality, so it is worth finding out the right name of the place from the start.
I knew people in my canton that did KV apprenticeship because they didn't know what to do or didn't know the other professions and ended up unemployed for years or faced fierce competition for every job and low salaries. Of course you have something more (languages) but have a look at your local job market and speak to people working in the field. That's why professions fairs are ideal, you can meet young people/graduates that can tell you how the job really is, what the situation is, etc.
In OP case this could be to finish High School back home (another 3 years), come to Switzerland and start Matura (4 years) or Apprenticeship (3 to 4 yeas depending on profession).
You can join the regular Matura as long as you are under 18 (depends on canton). If you are 18 or older you have to join the Matura for adults which may cost something if you have not lived in the canton long enough.
Starting an apprenticeship is always possible as long as you find a company which offers a place and is willing to take you on.