Unfortunately, it is almost a must if you want to avoid secondary school in Zurich.
Do you have entrance exams?
Of course, since Swiss kids have to compete with expat kids whose parents spend tens of thousands for exam preparation.
No. He is in KiGa, not at school. At schol they also focus on learning math, English, German etc.
Expat parents are obsessed with early education, so they give you want you want for your money.
The expat parents I know used the same prep courses as the locals that cost less than CHF2000. Usually a Sat morning or Wed pm in the months before the exam.
I’m not posh enough to rub shoulders with parents that fork out 10s of thousands for a course 
That may well be the case in Zurich but it’s not the case which is what I was referring to as it’s the only place I have experience of.
There is no exam here so nobody spends thousands on exam prep.
All bar one of the students I have tutored are Swiss from Swiss families who need extra support in certain subjects in order to have the grades required in lycée in order to stay there.
Lots drop out of lycée along the way due to weaknesses along the way and that applies to both Swiss and non Swiss kids.
Many expat kids start attending courses from the 5th year already (sometimes even 4th) and attend several different courses at the same time. The record amount known to me is 17 000 CHF.
2000 seems a very small amount. It’s the cost of one module and the full course is 4-5 modules, including intensive courses during the school holidays.
We spent 900 CHF on a 3-month math online class that was organized by one of the teachers privately on Saturday mornings. And we sent her to the Wed PM prep course that the school offered free of charge. That was sufficient for passing the admission test.
Here’s my two cents worth.
Are your intending to be in Switzerland long term?
If you are then I would recommend going down the local school route. Having a local network is really important here.
Personally I think you’re focussing too much on early academics. The local schools focus on social skills and manual dexterity in the early years and put less emphasis on academic stuff. Private school tend to favour the more academic route as that’s what the non-Swiss parents value more.
If you look at ‘league tables’ for schooling across Europe you’ll often find that the countries which regularly come out on top are the ones which start formal schooling at a later age so whilst it might seem like an advantage to start reading and writing at age 4 that advantage is lost over the years and children who start later soon catch up and often overtake those who started earlier.
Another thing to consider is if for any reason a child needs extra support. Private schools are a business, they are there primarily to make money. They don’t always have the resources available to provide extra support to a child who has additional needs. Obviously every school is different and that’s not always the case but it’s something to be aware of.
Private schools also generally pay less and are less stringent about the qualifications than public schools so the teachers are not necessarily the best, of course you can get a terrible teacher anywhere and public schools have their fair share of terrible teachers as well.
The hours are the biggest downside for local schools in my opinion, you need to get good cover for the hours you’re working but the kids don’t have school. Parascolaire, hort or whatever they call it where you are can be hit and miss so you’d need to look into what’s available to you.
As far as the English is concerned I wouldn’t worry about it. Communicate to him only in English at home, give him English books to read and English TV to watch and he’ll be an absolutely fine.
If you want to reinforce his written English send him to one of the extracurricular English classes aimed specifically at kids like him. There are a few to choose from in Basel.
The money you save on private school fees could easily be used on extra tutoring if you fell it’s necessary.
As an aside our son had no formal English classes aside from the regular classes in school, most of which he was allowed to skip and he is perfectly bilingual French/English with a good level of German. He did all of his schooling in French.
He aced the Cambridge proficiency exam he was required to do as part of his bachelor degree. He needed minimum B2 which is first certificate level but he asked if he could do the highest level and they agreed and he ended up with C2. He now has a very good job where knowing English well is an advantage.
5 Likes
To be fair I think you are mixing with a certain elite group of people, that is far from being the norm.
The public schools are very understaffed these days. They have to hire people without teaching education and/or experience and it doesn’t always work.
Indeed and the same is true for private schools.
That’s the reality in Zurich. Many courses for 2025/26 are fully booked already. If parents want to avoid Sec at all costs, 10 - 20 000 is stil cheaper than 1 year of private school.
The exam grades are added to the school grades. Some schools give 6 grades almost to all kids who want to enter Gymi. In some other schools 6 is very rare grade, almost non existing. The lower grades you have at school, the better results you need at the exam.
ChatGPT:
Have to say, this is what my estimate sits with, based on the people I know who have put their kids in gymi.
This pretty much fits with what the people I know in Zürich have invested in gymni prep courses.
It is however a relatively small sample number.
If students want to get into the German or bilingual Gymnasium after grade 8, they need to have at least a 5 in German, French, Math, and Science, along with teacher recommendations in those subjects. If they don’t meet the grade or recommendation requirements, they can still try getting in by taking an entrance exam.
For French-speaking students, admission after grade 9 depends on their grades.
3 Likes
That’s quite silly btw.
Foreign languages are a tough nut to crack in most schools or systems. I was afraid she’s going to need French at gymi and the school will provide an insufficient level at the end of the 6th grade. Primary school doesn’t really prepare you for gymi. Even if she didn’t choose to go to gymi, those lessons will sure pay off when looking for a job etc. My younger child is quite different and has other abilities, so no point in insisting with languages in this case.
Anyway, back to my post: Phill was afraid his kid will not learn English; I think he can supplement this area if he really feels that’s a problem here and now.
I am surprised native speakers fear their kids won’t be fluent speakers of English…weird.
No, children put themselves in gymi, the parent can only help a little. There are quite a few kids who don’t pass the Probezeit or repeat a year etc.
As for those preparatory courses - there are kids who couldn’t be helped by any of them.
I am not so convinced secondary school is to be avoided at all costs. Some kids need more time and Langgymi, as you probably know, is tough. And it is not for everyone, kids have other options too.
For expats is important that our kids get to gymi, for the Swiss is important that their children get to experiment as many things as possible. I know Swiss parents who sent their children to summer camps abroad so that the children learn English, invest a lot in their hobbies etc. Each to their own. In the end I noticed all kids succeed or achieve something. So yeah, the system is very good IMO.
My kids are already fluent in English and German. I just want to make sure they continuing developing well. I noticed my daughter had improved her English a great deal after going to the billingual school.
Though the focus for my son was more to spend more time on his reading and writing and also getting him more used to sitting down on and focussing on his work.
1 Like
Sorry, poor choice of words on my part.
1 Like