Gymnasium preparation stress: Grammar school exam strains whole family

Mrs Sutter was shocked. The mother of two children had no idea that her eldest daughter Sophie's grammar school entrance exam would cause such stress for the whole family in preparing for it. And the stress didn't end with the Gymnasium entrance exam. The subsequent trial period at the long-term grammar school was even harder than preparing for the entrance exam. Read here to find out how the Sutter family experienced preparing for grammar school and the trial period at the long-term Gymnasium.

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Table of contents

• Excursus: Only about every second student passes the gymnasium exam
   
• Gymnasium preparation stress for the whole family
   
• The stress continues during the gymnasium probationary period

Excursus: Only about every second student passes the gymnasium exam

The reason why the grammar school entrance exam in the canton of Zurich puts so much pressure on children and parents is the high failure rate. In 2025, for example, 8,695 pupils took the grammar school entrance exam in the canton of Zurich, but only 4,135 passed. This means that the failure rate for the grammar school entrance exam in 2025 was 52.44 per cent, or in other words, the pass rate was 47.56 per cent.

If we look only at primary school pupils who made it to the long grammar school, the transfer rate to the long grammar school is only 14.9 per cent of all primary school pupils. And this low grammar school rate is not an exception, but the rule in the canton of Zurich, as this rate has remained at around 15 per cent for years.

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Gymnasium preparation stress for the whole family

The Sutter family experienced the preparation for the Gymnasium exam as a joint project of child and parents, but as a particularly stressful project. If Mrs Sutter apologized to friends because she and her husband did not have time for a nice evening with friends during this project, she said: «We are in grammar school exam stress!»

Sophie could have waited and taken the grammar school entrance exam during her second year of secondary school, then transferred to the short-term grammar school. But Sophie really wanted to stay with her two best friends, who also wanted to transfer to the long-term grammar school – although one of them didn't make it, despite all the stress of preparing for the exam.

Read also our article ‘Difference long-term and short-term grammar school in Zurich - which is better?’

When Sophie came home in the evening, she was often tired. After school, she often had other activities, such as piano lessons and gymnastics. This left little time to prepare for the Gymnasium exam. In the evenings, the parents turned into tutors, dividing the tasks among themselves. Mrs Sutter helped Sophie with German and Mr Sutter with mathematics.

To do this, the parents read through the necessary exam material week after week. They wanted to be able to help Sophie if she got stuck while studying. For the parents, it was as if they were preparing for the grammar school entrance exam themselves, on top of their full-time jobs. The Sutters had even heard from parents who had taken several weeks off work to study for the gymnasium exam with their son.

But it wasn't just Mr and Mrs Sutter who were tired in the evening when the studying really got going; Sophie also had no energy left to sit down at her desk after dinner. With a few little motivational tricks, however, she managed it: for example, five maths problems in exchange for 30 minutes of Netflix.

The Sutters often had doubts as to whether Sophie was ready for grammar school. Sometimes Sophie failed at the simplest tasks, but perhaps she was just too exhausted that evening.

In addition to her evening study programme, Sophie also took part in a grammar school preparation course. It was particularly helpful that she was able to clarify open questions in the grammar school course that her parents could not answer. In addition, Sophie was given explanations of the special type of grammar school examination tasks in the gymnasium preparation course and received guidance on how best to study and cope with exam stress.

Sophie took part in the mock exam with great excitement. The whole family was on tenterhooks, as if it were the real grammar school entrance exam. What if Sophie had failed the examination simulation? The eagerly awaited results were: passed! But would that be enough for the real grammar school entrance exam? The Sutters immediately began to worry again.

Fortunately, these worries were unfounded, because Sophie passed the real grammar school entrance exam and was able to transfer to her desired gymnasium – with a lot of hard work and constant fear of failure. For almost a year, Sophie studied every day, and the whole family studied with her.
 

The stress continues during the gymnasium probationary period

But the stress did not end for the Sutter family after the grammar school entrance exam. When the gymnasium started after the summer holidays, Sophie still had to pass her probationary period, which lasted a whole six months. And this was even tougher. Sophie's mother and father were also involved in her studies again. Mrs Sutter tested Sophie on the latest Latin vocabulary and history dates. Mr Sutter supported Sophie in mathematics and physics, although he had to work hard to refresh his own knowledge of these subjects.

Fortunately, there was also a preparatory course for the grammar school probationary period, where Sophie was not only helped with the subject matter, but also with coping with the pressure that regularly brought tears to her eyes. Her parents were able to comfort her, but they themselves were overwhelmed by the strain, which they had not expected to be so great. In retrospect, they would have sent Sophie to the preliminary course for the trial period at grammar school to make her first time there easier.

Despite all the adversity, Sophie also passed her grammar school probationary period and is now studying hard to obtain her Matura certificate, which will enable her to study at university.

Read also our article ‘Gymi probationary period at the long-term Gymnasium in Zurich even harder than Gymi exam’.

Book your grammar school probationary period course now, preferably starting with a preliminary course!
 

Sources

• Gymnasium Preparation Zurich - Preparatory courses for every need - Lern-Forum (last accessed: August 25, 2025)
   
• Grammar school exam results 2025 in canton Zurich (ZAP 2025) - Lern-Forum (last accessed: August 25, 2025)
   
• Difference long-term and short-term grammar school Zurich - which is better? (last accessed: August 25, 2025)
   
• Mock exam - grammar school / BMS / FMS / HMS - Lern-Forum (last accessed: August 25, 2025)
   
• Information about everyday school life and the probationary period (last accessed: August 25, 2025)
   
• Gymi probation period courses - Support course and preparation - Lern-Forum (last accessed: August 25, 2025)
   
• Gymi probationary period at the long-term Gymnasium in Zurich even harder than Gymi exam (last accessed: August 25, 2025)