All grammar schools in the canton of Zurich and their grammar school profiles
Here you will find a list of all grammar schools in Zurich (canton) with an indication of whether they are long grammar schools and/or short grammar schools.
In a second list of these cantonal schools in Zurich, we have also indicated which grammar school profiles (Gymnasium profiles) are offered by the respective cantonal school.
In the last two sections of our article you will find information on the bilingual Matura in the canton of Zurich and on the attendance days of the cantonal grammar schools (high schools) in Zurich.
Table of contents
Grammar schools in the canton of Zurich
The canton of Zurich has a large number of grammar schools, also known as cantonal schools. But exactly how many grammar schools are there in the canton of Zurich? The answer: There are 22 cantonal grammar schools (cantonal schools) and one cantonal matura school for adults in the canton of Zurich.
Difference between long-term and short-term grammar schools
Some of the grammar schools in the canton of Zurich offer both the long grammar school (long-term Gymnasium) and the short grammar school (short-term Gymnasium), others only offer the long grammar school and others only the short grammar school. While the long-term grammar school starts after the 6th primary school year and lasts 6 years, the short-term grammar school starts after the 2nd or 3rd secondary school year and lasts 4 years.
There is no difference between the two types of grammar school in Zurich as far as graduation is concerned. Both the long-term gymnasium and the short-term gymnasium lead to the grammar school Matura. In principle, both of these baccalaureate programmes provide access to universities, the ETH and teacher training colleges.
In the following list we have listed the grammar schools in Zurich. In this list of cantonal schools in Zurich, we have also added an indication of whether both the long and the short baccalaureate are offered or only the short baccalaureate or only the long baccalaureate (Matura).
In order to be admitted to a grammar school in the canton of Zurich, you must first pass the grammar school examination. Those who take a grammar school preparation course have a better chance of passing this centralised grammar school entrance exam (ZAP).
Gymnasium profiles in Zurich
In addition to the compulsory subjects, which all students must attend equally, grammar schools in the canton of Zurich also offer specialisation subjects and a supplementary subject.
Which specialisation subjects you can choose depends on the so-called Matura profile you have chosen, namely from Year 3 at the long Gymnasium and from Year 1 at the short Gymnasium.
There are a total of 6 different Matura profiles at grammar schools in the canton of Zurich, although not all profiles are always offered by the respective grammar school. The following grammar school profiles (Gymnasium profiles) are available at the cantonal schools in the canton of Zurich:
- Old language profile
- Modern language profile
- Mathematics and science profile
- Business and law profile
- Music profile
- Philosophical/ Pedagogical/ Psychological profil
The following list of grammar schools in Zurich shows which profiles are available at each grammar school in the canton of Zurich:
| Grammar school in the canton of Zurich | Gymnasiumprofiles |
| Büelrain Cantonal School (KBW) |
|
| Enge Cantonal School (KEN) |
|
| Freudenberg Cantonal School (KFR) |
|
| Hohe Promenade Cantonal School (KSHP) |
|
| Hottingen Cantonal School (KSH) |
|
| Im Lee Cantonal School (KLW) |
|
| Küsnacht Cantonal School (KKN) |
|
| Limmattal Cantonal School (KSL) |
|
| Cantonal Matura School for Adults (KME) |
|
| Rämibühl Cantonal School- Artand Sport Gymnasium (K+S) |
|
| Rämibühl Cantonal School- Literature high school (LG) |
|
| Rämibühl Cantonal School- Mathematics and science grammar school (MNG) |
|
| Rämibühl Cantonal School-Realgymnasium (RG) |
|
| Rychenberg Cantonal School (KRW) |
|
| Stadelhofen Cantonal School (KST) |
|
| Uetikon am See Cantonal School (KUE) |
|
| Uster Cantonal School (KUS) |
|
| Wiedikon Cantonal School (KWI) |
|
| Zimmerberg Cantonal School (KZI) |
|
| Zürich Nord Cantonal School (KZN) |
|
| Zürcher Oberland Cantonal School (KZO) |
|
| Zürcher Unterland Cantonal School (KZU) |
|
| Liceo Artistico (LA) at the Freudenberg Cantonal School |
|
Bilingual Matura
As a rule, grammar schools in the canton of Zurich also offer a bilingual Matura, either in German/English or in German/French, and sometimes for both language pairs.
At the Literature high school (Literature Gymnasium, LG) and the Realgymnasium (RG) of the Cantonal School Rämibühl in Zurich, students can also obtain the International Baccalaureate/ Baccalauréat International (IB).
At the Liceo Artistico, students also learn Italian and take the Italian Matura in addition to the Swiss Matura.
Visiting days at grammar schools in Zurich
So that interested primary and secondary school pupils can get an idea of the grammar schools in Zurich, many cantonal grammar schools offer so-called visit days, sometimes also called visit mornings, visit afternoons or taster days.
For example, the Enge cantonal school organises visit days. The Freudenberg grammar school offers so-called visit afternoons. And at the Hohe Promenade cantonal school, the visiting days are called taster days.
To find out whether there are visiting days at the respective cantonal school, you can check the website of the respective grammar school and if you can't find anything there, simply contact the grammar school by e-mail or telephone to find out whether the school offers visiting days.
Please also read our article "Tips for the 2026 grammar school exam (Gymnasium Zurich) and FAQs".
Links used
https://www.zh.ch/de/bildung/schulen/maturitaetsschule/gymnasium.html
https://www.lern-forum.ch/gymivorbereitung-zuerich
https://www.ken.ch/news-detailansicht/besuchstage
https://www.kfr.ch/gymnasium/portrait/angebot/schuleintritt/schuleintritt-langgymnasium/
https://www.kshp.ch/die-schule/unser-unterrichtsangebot/anmeldung-an-die-schule
https://www.lern-forum.ch/blog/gymipruefung-tipps-2025-faqs-zuerich
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