Switzerland has around thirty boarding schools of international standing and a dozen that matter to the families we write for. They share a reputation for discretion, safety and skiing, and they differ in almost everything else: language, curriculum, size, price and the kind of child who is happy there. The mistake most families make is to treat them as one product with different logos.
The Lake Geneva schools
Institut Le Rosey at Rolle is the name everyone knows: bilingual, international by design, with the winter campus in Gstaad and fees around 150,000 francs. It suits sociable, robust, well-travelled children and families who want the network more than the mountains. Collège du Léman at Versoix is a large day school with a boarding wing and the widest choice of certificates in the country. Brillantmont in Lausanne and Surval in Montreux are tiny, urban and kind, for children who need to be known by name.
The mountain schools
Aiglon and Beau Soleil sit above Villars, Leysin American School on the next plateau, Le Régent at Crans-Montana and Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz in the Engadin. These schools ski twice a week from December to March, run expeditions, and produce children who can read weather. Aiglon is British in tone and expedition-led, Beau Soleil French-international and warm, Leysin American and university-focused, Le Régent new and sporty, Zuoz Swiss and serious with the Matura and the Abitur beside the IB.
The academic outliers
Institut auf dem Rosenberg in St. Gallen is the most expensive school in the world at around 160,000 francs and the most individual: curricula built per child, tiny classes, robotics and a Mars habitat. Institut Montana above Zug is the bilingual value option with a Swiss Matura track that qualifies directly for ETH. TASIS in the Ticino is the sunny American school with palm trees and an arts programme.
What the fee includes
Swiss fees are quoted all-inclusive more often than English ones: tuition, boarding, meals, laundry, most sport and often the ski programme. Excluded are pocket money, private lessons, expeditions abroad, uniform, insurance and the flights. Budget 10 to 15 percent on top. The exchange rate matters: the franc has appreciated against the euro and the pound for fifteen years, so a fee that looked like the English schools in 2010 is now half as much again.
Who thrives
Children who like community. Swiss boarding is full boarding; there is no weekend at home, and the school becomes the family for three months at a time. Children who like the outdoors. Children from families who move, because the Swiss schools are used to pupils whose parents live in three countries. And children who are not academically fragile: the Swiss schools are good, but the very best results in the world are still produced in England and New England.
Getting in
Swiss admissions are interview-led rather than exam-led. The school wants to meet the family, see the reports and assess the child's English or French. The famous schools are full a year ahead for the main entry points at twelve to fourteen; sixth-form entry at sixteen is possible at most and rare at Le Rosey. Apply in the autumn for the following September, and visit in term time, not in the school holidays when the campus is a hotel.
Use the School Finder with Switzerland selected to compare all twelve by curriculum, fee and character, and the Education Cost Calculator to see what six years in francs become in euros.
