If the canton in which you live prescribes an entrance examination for entry to the Gymnasium, you must take and pass it in order to be admitted. For more detailed information, examination regulations and rules for the grammar school entrance examination in your canton of residence, please contact the relevant cantonal schools directly.

If you want to send your child to a long-term grammar school after the 6th grade or to a short-term grammar school after the 2nd or 3rd secondary school, the preparation period for the grammar school exams usually begins 1 to 2 years beforehand and is associated with excessive stress. For parents and children alike, this time is often associated with a great deal of psychological stress, based on the pressure to succeed and the uncertainty of what is to come. For this reason, you should start drawing up a plan well in advance of the grammar school entrance exam that includes the subject matter that will be tested. The best way to do this is to ask your child's teacher directly about the contents of the grammar school entrance exam. Once you have received these, transfer them to your plan and make sure that you repeat them every few weeks to anchor what you have learned for the Gymi exam in your child's memory. Let your child repeat several times a week, but never too much. Remember that your child is still a child and needs time to do the things he or she likes to do. This is the only way he or she will be able to learn again afterwards. Small learning units of 30 to 45 minutes on three to four days a week are ideal as preparation. If you feel overwhelmed by this task as a parent or are unwilling to take on the planning and implementation of the Gymi exam preparation, there are of course plenty of alternatives available to you. Preparatory courses for the grammar school entrance exam are offered by many different educational institutions, in different cities, intensities and time periods. In any case, remember to prepare your child not only academically, but also psychologically for this grammar school entrance exam and to take away their fear of failure.

No, the regulations for admission and the grammar school entrance exam to be taken beforehand are not standardized throughout Switzerland. In most cantons, previous grades in particular are decisive for the opportunity to take part in an entrance exam, but not in all cantons. In the canton of Thurgau, for example, recommendations from secondary school teachers are regarded as the most important criterion for admission to the exam. This system also offers pupils with lower grades but apparently high potential the opportunity to prove themselves at the Gymnasium. In addition, not all cantons have a grammar school entrance examination after the sixth grade. In the cantons of Nidwalden, Obwalden, Uri, Zug, Schwyz and Lucerne, the experience and opinions of teachers count more than test results.

Especially when transferring to a long grammar school, you need to ask yourself in advance whether the grammar school is the right choice, as the general conditions at elementary school are very different from those at grammar school. As a rule of thumb, you should have an average grade of at least a 5 in the subjects German and mathematics in the sixth grade. However, you have a realistic chance of passing the exam with an average of 5.25. So your Gymi exam grade point average should be 5 or higher. For the Kurzgymnasium, the subjects German, mathematics and French count and the average should be around 4.75. However, previous grades do not count here. However, no previous grades count here.

The following is practiced in preparation for the Gymi entrance exam:

• German
• German essay training
• Mathematics
• French (for short-term grammar school)
• Preparatory course - for example abstract thinking, which is required for the grammar school entrance exam
• Exam simulations

All learning content is aimed at ensuring that students are perfectly prepared for the Kanti exam.

A certificate from the 6th primary school class (fall semester) is required for admission to the central entrance examination for the Langgymnasium. Anyone who turns 15 after April 30 of the year of entry can register for the exam. The written examinations take place at the beginning of March. A report from the 2nd secondary school class in the fall semester or the 3rd secondary school class in the fall semester is required for the central entrance examination for the short grammar school, which also takes place at the beginning of March. Anyone who turns 17 after April 30 of the year of entry can apply. To be on the safe side, ask your canton about the applicable conditions.

The following aids are permitted for the cantonal school entrance examination:

• Long grammar school
  • the Schülerduden or Duden Volume 1 for the German essay
  • Ruler, compass and protractor for the math exam (calculators are not allowed)
• Short grammar school
  • the Schülerduden or Duden Volume 1 for the German essay
  • a bilingual dictionary for writing the text in French
  • A ruler, compass, protractor and calculator with the requirements specified in the secondary school mathematics teaching materials are permitted for the written mathematics examinations

The grammar school entrance examinations contain both a written and an oral part. The content of the exam varies from canton to canton, so it is not possible to give a uniform answer to this question. In the canton of Zurich, the following parts of the examination were taken in 2014 for admission to grammar school after year 6:

• German - Writing a text (60 minutes)
• German - text comprehension and language observation (30 minutes)
• Mathematics (60 minutes)
• Oral German and math (15 minutes each)

For the short-term grammar school, the following "grammar school entrance examination" contents applied:

• German - Writing a text (90 minutes)
• German - text comprehension and language observation (45 minutes)
• French - text comprehension, writing and language observation (90 minutes)
• Mathematics - Arithmetic, Geometry and Algebra (90 minutes)
• Oral German, French, Mathematics (15 minutes each)

The following students are suitable for the Gymi exam preparation:

• Interest in learning of their own accord (not just for the sake of their parents)
• Willingness to go the extra mile and put other things on hold
• sufficiently independent and responsible to find their way in a new environment
• can take over the planning for everyday school life themselves
• can accept failure and still stay motivated
• can perform well under pressure and stress
• can deal with the fact that they are no longer automatically among the best at grammar school