While the entrance exam for grammar school in the canton of Zurich is the same for every grammar school, the probationary period at grammar school in the canton of Zurich differs from school to school.

This is also reflected in the different failure rates during the probationary period at the respective grammar schools.

In the following article, we present the failure rate of the probationary period for each individual grammar school in the canton of Zurich and list further criteria for selecting the right grammar school.

The most important points in brief:

The failure rate during the probationary period at grammar schools in the Canton of Zurich varies considerably depending on the specific school in question.
The lowest drop-out rate during the grammar school probationary period in the 2025/2026 academic year was recorded by the Küsnacht Cantonal School, at 0.0 per cent, both amongst all Zurich grammar schools with a long curriculum and amongst all Zurich grammar schools with a short curriculum.
Other selection criteria for finding the right grammar school include, amongst other things, the school’s reputation as reflected in grammar school ranking lists, and the profiles or focus subjects offered by the school.

Table of contents

Failure rate during probationary period at grammar school
Further selection criteria for grammar school
- Grammar school ranking (Renommee)
- Grammar school profiles or focus subjects

Failure rate during probationary period at grammar school

The failure rate during the probationary period at grammar schools in the Canton of Zurich varies depending on the individual school. However, the Canton of Zurich does not publish the exact failure rate, but rather the drop-out rate in relation to the probationary period. This drop-out rate, however, includes not only those pupils who failed the probationary period, but also pupils who left the grammar school voluntarily during the probationary period.

In the tables below, we will list this drop-out rate during the grammar school probationary period – which is likely to correspond roughly to the probationary period failure rate – broken down into long-term and short-term grammar schools.

Please also read our article ‘The difference between long-course and short-course grammar schools in Zurich – which is better?’.

Read also our article ‘Difference long-term and short-term grammar school Zurich’.

One reason for a low drop-out rate at a grammar school may be that the probationary period there is less demanding. However, it may also be that the pupils selected through the entrance examination from a particular local area are simply a better fit for the grammar school if the drop-out rate there is lower than at other grammar schools. To find out whether a particular grammar school has a particularly lenient probationary period, you should therefore always enquire on site to see if this is actually the case. The best approach is to speak to pupils who have recently passed the probationary period at that particular school.

You may also be interested in the following articles:

Study on the probationary period at Gymnasium (academic high school) by Prof. Dr. Moser from 2017

As drop-out rates during the probationary period at grammar schools in the Canton of Zurich were already highly variable in the past, the Canton of Zurich’s Department of Education commissioned a study from the education researcher Prof. Dr Urs Moser to investigate the causes.

Moser’s study on the grammar school probationary period, published in 2017 and entitled ‘Explanations for dropouts during the probationary period at grammar school: Report for the Education Planning Department of the Zurich Department of Education’, reached the following conclusions, amongst others:

larger grammar schools had, on average, a slightly higher drop-out rate in the 2015/2016 academic year
at grammar schools with pupils from less privileged school districts, the drop-out rate during the probationary period was higher on average
grammar schools where the proportion of pupils whose mother tongue was not German was higher had a higher drop-out rate during the probationary period

To this day, these findings can explain why, for example, the long-term grammar school at the Cantonal School Zürich Nord has the third-highest drop-out rate of 10.8 per cent amongst all long-term grammar schools in the canton of Zurich in the 2025/2026 school year.

Long-term grammar school	Drop-out rate
Kantonsschule Küsnacht	0,0 %
Literargymnasium Rämibühl, Zürich	0,5 %
Kantonsschule Uetikon am See	1,9 %
Kantonsschule Zürcher Oberland, Wetzikon	3,3 %
Kunst und Sport Gymnasium (K+S) an der Kantonsschule Rämibühl	3,8 %
Realgymnasium Rämibühl, Zürich	4,1 %
Kantonsschule Wiedikon, Zürich	5,9 %
Kantonsschule Zimmerberg, Au	6,2 %
Kantonsschule Hohe Promenade, Zürich	6,5 %
Kantonsschule Zürcher Unterland, Bülach	7,1 %
Kantonsschule Rychenberg, Winterthur	8,4 %
Kantonsschule Freudenberg, Zürich	10,8 %
Kantonsschule Zürich Nord	10,8 %
Kantonsschule Uster	10,8 %
Kantonsschule Limmattal, Urdorf	17,6 %

Source:Education Directorate of the Canton of Zurich

If we add up all the dropouts from all state long-term grammar schools, the dropout rate for the whole of the Canton of Zurich, relative to the total number of pupils in the probationary period, stands at 7.1 per cent for the 2025/2026 academic year.

Read our article ‘Gymi trial period at the Langgymi in Zurich tougher than Gymi exams’.

Short-term grammar school	Drop-out rate
Kantonsschule Küsnacht	0,0 %
Liceo Artistico, Zürich	2,6 %
Kantonsschule Wiedikon, Zürich	2,9 %
Kantonsschule Im Lee, Winterthur	4,0 %
Kantonsschule Limmattal, Urdorf	7,5 %
Kantonsschule Zürcher Unterland, Bülach	7,6 %
Kantonsschule Zimmerberg, Au	8,3 %
Kantonsschule Hottingen, Zürich	8,9 %
Kantonsschule Stadelhofen, Zürich	9,1 %
Mathematisch-Nat. Rämibühl, Zürich \| Kunst und Sport Gymnasium (K+S) an der Kantonsschule Rämibühl	9,7 %
Kantonsschule Uetikon am See	9,8 %
Kantonsschule Zürcher Oberland, Wetzikon	11,3 %
Kantonsschule Zürich Nord	11,4 %
Kantonsschule Büelrain, Winterthur	11,8 %
Kantonsschule Enge, Zürich	14,1 %
Kantonsschule Freudenberg, Zürich	19,4 %
Kantonsschule Uster	19,8 %

Source:Education Directorate of the Canton of Zurich

If we add up all the dropouts from all state short-term grammar schools, the dropout rate for the whole of the Canton of Zurich, relative to the total number of pupils in the probationary period, stands at 9.8 per cent for the 2025/2026 school year.

Grammar school profiles or focus subjects

Another criterion for choosing the right grammar school is the range of grammar school profiles on offer there – or, from 2029/2030, the focus subjects on offer.

In the following article, you will find the profiles of the various grammar schools in the Canton of Zurich: ‘All grammar schools in canton Zurich and grammar school profiles’.

The focus subjects to be offered at grammar schools in the canton of Zurich from 2029/2030 can be found in the following article: ‘15 focus subjects at grammar schools 2029/2030 in Zurich’.