Many parents ask themselves early on: ‘Is my child suitable for grammar school?’. Sometimes the answer to this question is given too early.

In the following article, we explain, for example, whether a child who is still dreamy in fourth grade can still have potential for grammar school, how to prepare children for grammar school in general, whether some children may only be suitable for grammar school later and what the ‘Is my child suitable for grammar school’ tests are all about.

Choose your pre-course for grammar school preparation from Year 4 now!

Table of contents

Dreamy child can also go to grammar school
Making a child fit for grammar school
Child only suitable for grammar school later
‘Is my child suitable for grammar school’ test

Dreamy child can also go to grammar school

The question ‘Is my child fit for grammar school?’ can only ever be understood as a snapshot. This is because a child goes through several stages of development and may, for example, be unsuitable to transfer to grammar school directly after primary school. At a later stage of development, the same child may well be suitable for transferring from secondary school to grammar school.

The question of suitability for grammar school can also simply be asked too early, for example in the case of a child in the fourth primary class. It is not uncommon for a fourth-grader to still be dreamy, enjoy playing and not show much interest in getting good grades at school. However, a dreamy fourth-grade child can also be suitable for grammar school - even for the long grammar school directly after primary school.

For a grammar school career in the canton of Zurich, it is particularly important that the child understands the material very well in the fourth grade and that there are no gaps. The Lern-Forum grammar school exam preparation institute offers special preparatory courses to support fourth-graders, which have been developed for early and targeted grammar school preparation.

Pre-courses for grammar school preparation from Year 4 at Lern-Forum

In the canton of Aargau, where the transfer from primary school to district school (the necessary preliminary stage to grammar school) depends on the recommendation of the class teacher, it is helpful, however, if the child receives good grades early on in primary school in order to leave the class teacher with the formative impression of a grammar school candidate.

Please also read our article ‘Planning a school career in the canton of Aargau - it all comes down to year 5’.

Making a child fit for grammar school

Parents can do a lot to make their child fit for grammar school. For example, parents can show their child how happy they are when their child comes home with good grades. This joy on the part of the parents makes the child proud. This is because children of primary school age are still very focussed on their parents and are looking for recognition. However, it is important not to put too much pressure on the child, as too much expectation that the child absolutely has to go to grammar school can make a child ill.

The following article may be of interest to you in this context: ‘Does pressure from parents to go to grammar school make children ill?’

Learning can also be learnt and the brain can be trained. Constant learning and repetition is a learning technique. The more a child masters this technique, the better suited they will be for grammar school. Learning must be understood as a sport, the mastery of which is not innate from birth. The brain can be trained like a muscle for performance and endurance.

Parents can also playfully encourage children to take an interest in a broader range of knowledge and expand their wealth of experience, for example with regard to history and art by visiting museums, nature through mountain and forest hikes or astronomy by visiting observatories. Later in secondary school, it is important that the child is interested in a broad general knowledge, as there are a large number of compulsory subjects.

The following article may be of interest to you in this regard: ‘Educational journey with the family’

Encouragement is also one of the ways in which parents can provide support. The latter can encourage the child to have the confidence to go to grammar school. It should not be forgotten that children are already in competition with each other at school as to who will make it to grammar school and who will not. For example, a shy child can also be successful at grammar school, but this child may need extra motivation from the parents at primary school, secondary school or district school to assert themselves against their classmates for admission to grammar school.

Child only suitable for grammar school later

In the canton of Zurich, children can transfer to a grammar school after primary school, i.e. after year 6. However, in order to be accepted into this so-called long-term grammar school, children must pass the entrance exam.

Those who do not pass the grammar school exam at the end of primary school have the opportunity to take another grammar school entrance exam in secondary school, this time for the so-calledshort-term grammar school. This additional opportunity is intended to prevent children from being denied access to a public grammar school at an early age. It is always possible to attend a private grammar school without taking an entrance exam. However, private grammar schools are expensive.

The following article may be of interest to you in this context: ‘Private schools in Switzerland: Is there really a private school boom?’

Incidentally, it is not necessarily a bad thing if a child does not make the transition to grammar school after primary school. It may be that the child is simply not yet ready for grammar school and is therefore unsuitable for the grammar school route at that particular time. If the child were to transfer to grammar school anyway, it would be overwhelmed and would probably not even pass the probationary period.

An immature child who has to leave grammar school early due to immaturity could very well have been a candidate for the baccalaureate at a later stage. In the worst-case scenario, this child will forever avoid the baccalaureate route, including the vocational baccalaureate, due to the premature excessive demands of grammar school.

You may also be interested in the following article: ‘Preparation for grammar school exams necessary to pass’

‘Is my child suitable for grammar school’ test

There are websites on the internet with tests and checklists that claim to be able to check whether a child is suitable for grammar school. Some of these are publishers who use such checklists to advertise exercise books designed to prepare children for grammar school. Some grammar school aptitude tests can also be found on other websites, such as online magazines or tutoring sites.

As the results of such grammar school aptitude tests are always only a snapshot, you should not jump to conclusions about your child's suitability for grammar school.

Book a preparatory course for the Zurich long-term grammar school now!

Book a preparatory course for Zurich short-term grammar school now!

Book a preparation course for the Kanti exam (grammar school exam) in the canton of Aargau now!