Professional baccalaureate
The Professional Baccalaureate (BM) is a federally recognised qualification that complements teaching with an extended general education. It is intended for all young people who are motivated and able to learn more during or after their apprenticeship and to achieve more than the average.
The vocational baccalaureate is of great importance both for strengthening vocational education and training and for covering the shortage of skilled workers. By combining basic vocational training with extended general education, the BM opens up a wide range of opportunities for high-performing young people. With a BM degree, they can either enter the labour market directly or start studying at a Fachhochschule FH. With a supplementary examination - Passerelle for short - it is also possible to study at a university or ETH. For its part, the business world can fall back on qualified specialists and managers, especially in those sectors that are dependent on graduates of universities of applied sciences as specialists.
The vocational baccalaureate can be obtained in various ways:
- Parallel to the basic vocational training (BM1): extra-occupational (3 to 4 years) or school-based for prospective business people (4 years).
- After a completed basic vocational training with EFZ or equivalent (BM2): vocational baccalaureate for adults part-time or full-time (4 or 2 semesters).
- Independent of school: on the occasion of the federal vocational baccalaureate examinations after a completed basic vocational training with EFZ or equivalence.