IMS Preparation

IMS Preparation courses in Zurich

Every year, many Swiss students take the IMS entrance exam. In Zurich, the exam takes place at the end of October. This exam is a great challenge that your children must master in order to attend an IT secondary school, short IMS, in Switzerland. The IMS is a 4-year program that starts after the third year of gymnasium level A.

The school is attended for three full years before a one-year internship with a company is scheduled. The obtained degree is the commercial vocational Matura as well as the diploma of vocational education and training as a computer scientist. Especially the latter is becoming more and more important in today's world, which is why many students choose an IT secondary school.

In addition, the degree from the IT secondary school enables students to start their practical training, attend higher technical schools and study at universities of applied sciences. However, to benefit from the great opportunities and possibilities of this professional field, your children must first pass the IMS entrance examination. This is exactly how we have been helping a wide variety of Swiss students at the Lern-Forum in Zurich for many years.

Registration for the IMS Entrance Examination

In order to register your child for the central entrance examination (ZAP) for the Informatics Secondary School (IMS), they must attend or have completed the third year of the gymnasium, level A or B. Alternatively, registration is also possible after completing an equivalent education. However, your child must have been born after June 15, 2008, to be eligible for admission to the 2026/27 school year. You can easily register your children via the corresponding online portal.

Multicheck ICT - Approval with 50% of the points

In order to be admitted to the IMS examination, an aptitude test must be submitted when registering for the examination. This is a Multicheck test entitled “ICT IT Specialist EFZ specializing in Application Development” in which candidates must achieve at least 50 points in both the ‘Potential’ and “Job-Specific Skills” sections.

The date for the Multicheck aptitude test, which is subject to a fee, must be booked and taken between June 1 and September 25 of the examination year. According to the requirements of the Secondary School and Vocational Training Office of the Canton of Zurich, the Multicheck test may not be repeated. It takes up to two working days to receive the results of the aptitude test, which are required for registration at the IT secondary school. 

Practice for Multicheck with us in the Multicheck preparation course

Contents of the IMS Entrance Examination

The entrance examination for the IT secondary school (IMS) is divided into the examination subjects:

Mathematics: 90 minutes
German – language analysis and text comprehension: 45 minutes
German – writing a text (essay): 90 minutes

Passing the IMS Entrance Examination

Advance Note

Are preliminary grades relevant for the IMS? For the admission into a computer science middle school, the preliminary grade count is mandatorily. The candidate should meet one of the following two conditions at the time of application:

• Attendance of a Zurich public secondary school A without requirement levels
• Attendance of a Zurich public secondary school A, which leads requirement levels. All subjects offered in requirement levels must be completed in the highest requirement level.

In all other cases, the advance performance score does not count.

Calculation of the advance performance grade

Each of the following subjects count for one-fifth:

• German
• English
• French
• Nature and technology
• Mathematics (two thirds arithmetic and algebra, one third geometry)

If there is no grade in one of these subjects, the preliminary grade does not count.

Exam subjects

The ZAP is written and includes the examination subjects German and mathematics.

The examination of subject German consists of the parts:

• Writing text (essay)
• Language observation and text comprehension

Exam score

The examination grade consists of one quarter each of the two German examination parts and half of the mathematics examination.

Overall score

If the advance performance grade counts, the overall grade is the average of the exam grade and the advance performance grade. If the preliminary performance grade is not taken into account, only the ZAP examination grade counts.

Overall grade for admission

Candidates pass the exam with the following overall grades:

With advance performance grade

Minimum 4.5

Without advance performance grade

Minimum 4.25

Use our grade calculator to calculate the required ZAP exam grade based on your preliminary grades

Successful IMS Preparation

To give your child the best chance of success in the IMS entrance exam, we prepare them optimally for the upcoming exam in our IMS preparation course. Our top tutors teach the latest material, closely examine the strengths and weaknesses of the participants, and review and deepen their knowledge of the exam subjects mathematics and German in effective course units.

At Lern-Forum in Zurich, we have been successfully preparing Swiss students for the entrance exam for the IT secondary school for many years. With our preparation courses, we not only significantly increase the chances of success in the IMS entrance exam, but also make it much easier for your children to start at the IT secondary school.

Reserve a spot for your child in our IMS preparation course now.