Professional education

The professional education sector provides the skills needed to carry out professional activities that are both challenging and involve managerial responsibility, thus ensuring that qualified specialists are available on the market. The professional education and the higher education sectors are the two main pillars of Swiss tertiary education.

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The professional education sector gives holders of a federal VET diploma or an equivalent upper-secondary level qualification the opportunity to specialise and deepen their knowledge, or to acquire business management skills. Every year, more than 29'000 people obtain a professional qualification.

Professional education includes:

  • preparation for federal professional examinations and advanced federal professional examinations (for the Federal Diploma or Advanced Federal Diploma);
  • study programmes at colleges of professional education (for the CPE diploma).

Holders of a Federal Diploma or a CPE Diploma are entitled to use the add-on title “Professional Bachelor”; holders of an Advanced Federal Diploma are entitled to use the add-on title “Professional Master”.

Examples

  • Federal Diploma: Carpentery Project Manager, Professional Bachelor
  • CPE Diploma: Professional Bachelor in Social Work
  • Advanced Federal Diploma: Expert in finance and investment, Professional Master

Statistics