The Rychenberg cantonal school in Winterthur will introduce art and sport classes at its grammar school starting in the 2029/2030 school year, specifically an arts and sports long-term grammar school and short-term grammar school.

In addition, a pilot project is to be carried out at the Rychenberg secondary technical school (Fachmittelschule, FMS) offering an educational programme for young people with exceptional talent in music, sport and dance; the start date is yet to be confirmed.

In the following article, we explain how the new arts and sports (K+S) grammar school at the Rychenberg Cantonal School came about, how the new K+S grammar school will be implemented, and we also present the pilot project for music, sport and dance at the secondary technical school at the Rychenberg Cantonal School.

The most important points in brief:

Since the 2000/2001 school year, there has been an arts and sports grammar school at the short-term grammar school, namely the ‘K+S grammar school Rämibühl, arts and sports grammar school‘.
Since the 2012/2013 academic year, the ‘K+S grammar school Rämibühl, arts and sports grammar school’ has also offered an arts and sports stream within its long-term grammar school.
As the number of gifted young people – particularly those with sporting talent – has risen sharply in recent years, and potential talents have already had to be turned away from K+S Rämibühl in the 2025/2026 school year, the establishment of an additional arts and sports grammar school is necessary.
To address the problem of rising demand for places at the Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school in the Canton of Zurich, the Rychenberg arts and sports grammar school in Winterthur will also offer arts and sports classes in the long- and short-term grammar school from 2029/ 2030; however, in the field of music, only the lower grammar school at Rychenberg in Winterthur will be available, and pupils will have to transfer to the Rämibühl music grammar school in Zurich for the upper grammar school.
In addition, a pilot project offering an educational programme for young people with exceptional talent in music, sport and dance will be carried out at the secondary technical school (Fachmittelschule, FMS) at the Rychenberg Cantonal School; the start date for this has yet to be determined.

Table of contents

History of arts and sports grammar school in the canton of Zurich
Need for an additional arts and sports grammar school in the canton of Zurich
Introduction of the arts and sports grammar school Rychenberg
School experiment with music, sports and dance at the secondary technical school

History of arts and sports grammar school in the canton of Zurich

Until now, there has been only one state-run arts and sports grammar school in the Canton of Zurich, namely the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Grammar School at the Rämibühl Cantonal School in Zurich (KRM), also known as the ‘K+S grammar school Rämibühl, arts and sports grammar school’ or the ‘Arts and Sports Gymnasium (K+S) at the Rämibühl Cantonal School’.

The Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school traces its origins to a decision by the Zurich Cantonal Government in 1999, which stipulated that, from the 2000/2001 school year onwards, classes for young people with exceptional talent in music, sport and dance were to be introduced in the canton of Zurich after the 2nd and 3rd secondary year – in other words, a short-term grammar school specialising in the arts and sports. Specifically, the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Grammar School at the Rämibühl Cantonal School in Zurich (KRM) was selected for this purpose.

In 2012, the programme was further expanded when the KRM was commissioned to establish a K+S class for pupils with exceptional talent in music, sport and dance following Year 6 of primary school, starting from the 2012/2013 school year – in other words, a long-term grammar school for the arts and sports.

Need for an additional arts and sports grammar school in the canton of Zurich

As the number of gifted young people – particularly those with sporting talent – has risen sharply in recent years, there is a need to expand the range of educational provision for these talented young people in the Canton of Zurich. Due to the limited number of places at the Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school, even potentially talented pupils had to be turned away for the 2025/2026 school year due to a lack of space, in both the long-term and short-term grammar school.

By way of comparison: in 2011, 458 young people in the canton of Zurich held a regional Swiss Olympic Talent Card and 322 held a national one. In 2025, 1,458 young people held a regional Talent Card and 784 held a national Talent Card. The figures for the regional Talent Card have therefore almost tripled, whilst those for the national Swiss Olympic Talent Card have more than doubled. The number of high-performance centres has also doubled during this period.

In contrast to the sports sector, no comparable trend can be observed in the arts (dance and music).

Introduction of the arts and sports grammar school Rychenberg

At its meeting on 3 June 2026 (RRB No. 606), the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich resolved to meet the growing demand for places at the Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school in the Canton of Zurich by establishing an additional arts and sports grammar school. Specifically, the Rychenberg cantonal school in Winterthur has been selected as the site for the additional arts and sports grammar school.

At Rychenberg, both an arts and sports class within the long-term grammar school and an arts and sports class within the short-term grammar school are to be established. This is intended to enable the Canton of Zurich to admit twice as many talented pupils to the lower grammar school in future and a third more to the short-term grammar school.

As at the Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school, the duration of the short-term grammar school at the Rychenberg arts and sports grammar school will also be extended from the standard four years to five years. This is because, at both grammar schools, pupils will have a reduced number of weekly lessons so that they can better concentrate on their training in music, sport or dance alongside their studies. The duration of the lower grammar school will not be extended; as is customary in the Canton of Zurich, it will last two years.

Read also our article ‘How long does grammar school last in Switzerland?’.

Location selection

The main reasons for choosing Winterthur as the location are, in particular, that Winterthur has the second-highest density of holders of a national Swiss Olympic Talent Card after the city of Zurich; this card – as an alternative to the regional Swiss Olympic Talent Card – is a prerequisite for admission to an arts and sports class. Furthermore, there are a large number of high-performance centres in the Winterthur region.

In addition, the Rychenberg Cantonal School boasts a grammar school infrastructure that has been tried and tested over many years. The Rychenberg grammar school has even achieved first place in two grammar school rankings.

Please also read our article ‘Gymnasium Zurich ranking: best grammar school in the canton of Zurich’.

Requirements

To be admitted to the future arts and sports grammar school at the Rychenberg Cantonal School in Winterthur, applicants must generally meet the same requirements as those currently required for the Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school:

Passing the central entrance examination (ZAP 1 for the long-term grammar school or ZAP 2 for the short-term grammar school)
a successful aptitude assessment in the fields of music, sport or dance
- Aptitude assessment in the field of sport: possession of the regional or national Swiss Olympic Talent Card
- Aptitude assessment in the field of dance: participation in the Talent Scouting Days organised by Danse Suisse forms the basis of the aptitude assessment
- Aptitude assessment in the field of music: assessment of the candidate’s instrumental ability and potential

Find out more about preparing for grammar school!

Following admission to the arts and sports grammar school, pupils’ musical, sporting or dance abilities are regularly assessed.

However, there is a key difference between the Rychenberg arts and sports grammar school and the Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school. Whilst the music stream at K+S Rämibühl is also offered at upper grammar school level, at K+S Rychenberg it is to be offered only at lower grammar school level. Pupils who have completed the music programme at Rychenberg lower grammar school must then transfer to the music programme at K+S Rämibühl upper grammar school, but must sit an aptitude test again to do so.

In particular, musically gifted pupils at K+S Rychenberg are set to benefit from the close collaboration between K+S Rämibühl and the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) by transferring to K+S Rämibühl from the short-term grammar school onwards.

A school fee of CHF 1,400 per year will be payable for attendance at the Rychenberg arts and sports grammar school. This is the same amount currently payable per year for the Rämibühl arts and sports grammar school.

School experiment with music, sports and dance at the secondary technical school

Furthermore, at its meeting on 3 June 2026 (RRB No. 606), the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich resolved to conduct a pilot project offering an educational programme for young people with exceptional talent in music, sport and dance at the secondary technical school (Fachmittelschule, FMS) of the Rychenberg Cantonal School.

The exact start date of this pilot project at the FMS is to be determined during its planning phase. The aim of the experiment is to contribute to the further development of the education system, so that pupils who are not aiming for either a grammar school diploma or vocational training can nevertheless combine their school education with their own artistic or sporting talents.

The financial implications of establishing an arts and sports class at the FMS of the Rychenberg Cantonal School are also to be clarified as part of the planning of the pilot project.

Learn more about FMS preparation now!

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