2026

Measures for Higher Vocational Education

The amendment to the Vocational Education and Training Act and the corresponding amendments to the Vocational Education and Training Ordinance will come into force on 1 October 2026. In particular, the new title suffixes ‘Professional Bachelor’ and ‘Professional Master’ will be introduced. This will clarify the positioning of higher vocational education within the tertiary sector and raise its profile. In addition to the title suffixes, the changes include the enshrinement of the protected designation ‘College of Higher Education”, the option of English as an additional examination language, and greater flexibility in post-diploma programmes at Colleges of Higher Education.

The revision of the Vocational Training Act strengthens higher vocational education as a practical and attractive educational pathway at tertiary level and helps to ensure, in the long term, that the needs of the economy – particularly those of small and medium-sized enterprises – for qualified specialists and managers are met.

2025

[There have been no reforms]

2024

Increasing the attractiveness of professional education

Professional education, together with higher education institutions, forms the tertiary level of the education system. It comprises federally recognised courses at professional education institutions and examinations for (advanced) federal diploma of higher education. This gives Switzerland a unique instrument for further vocational training. To ensure that professional education remains an attractive option in the future, its visibility and social standing need to be improved. The Federal Council therefore submitted a Massnahmenpaket [package of measures] for consultation on 14 June 2024. The package provides for the legal establishment of a right to use the designation ‘professional education institution’ and thus protection of the name, as well as the introduction of the title suffixes ‘Professional Bachelor’ and ‘Professional Master’ for professional education diplomas. Other measures include the option of conducting federal examinations in English and making the continuing education programmes offered by professional education institutions more flexible.

Adapting the vocational baccalaureate to current challenges

The vocational baccalaureate contributes significantly to the permeability of the Swiss education system. It supplements basic vocational education and training with a broader general education and allows exam-free access to universities of applied sciences in the relevant subject area.

To ensure that the vocational baccalaureate remains an option for high-achieving young people and that the economy has access to skilled workers and managers with practical training, the 2009 Vocational Baccalaureate Ordinance and the 2012 framework curriculum are to be amended. English will now be explicitly defined as a third language and a compulsory subject, requirements for combining traditional learning and teaching methods with digital applications (blended learning) will be included in the framework curriculum, and the requirements for interdisciplinary project work will be supplemented. On 10 April 2024, the Federal Council opened the consultation process on the revision of the Vocational Baccalaureate Ordinance and the framework curriculum for the vocational baccalaureate.