It’s one of the questions parents ask us most often, usually towards the end of a conversation, almost apologetically: “But is that a proper Matura qualification?” It’s a fair question. In Switzerland, there are two routes to a federally recognised upper-secondary school-leaving qualification (Matura): the school-based Matura examination at a recognised cantonal school (commonly known as the “Hausmatura”) and the external Swiss Matura examination (often referred to as the “Eidgenössische Matura”), which is administered centrally by the federal government. These names make it sound as though the two qualifications are on different levels. But they are not. By law, the Matura certificate awarded through the Swiss Matura examination is equivalent to those issued by cantonal secondary schools. Both routes open the same doors: admission to all Swiss universities, including ETH Zurich. The difference lies not in the value of the qualification, but in the path to achieving it: who conducts the examinations, when they take place, and what happens when a student struggles with a particular subject along the way. And that is precisely what matters for your child.
Alexander Minder
