Admission

Admission with a Swiss vocational baccalaureate

Candidates holding a vocational baccalaureate recognised by the Swiss Confederation who have also completed basic vocational training in a profession related to their chosen study discipline are eligible for admission. Candidates who have completed a commercial apprenticeship are recommended to attend a bridging course (for examples, see www.vorkurs.ch). Candidates wishing to study Computer Science should also take a convergence course in programming.

Note: a completed commercial apprenticeship is not a sufficient qualification for admission to the bachelor degree programmes in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Systems Engineering.

Admission with a diploma from a Swiss higher specialised secondary school (in German, “Höhere Fachschule”) or a Swiss specialist baccalaureate (in German, “Fachmaturität”)

Holders of a diploma from a Swiss higher specialised secondary school (in German, “Höhere Fachschule”) with a federally recognized HF diploma and at least one year of work experience in a profession related to the course.

Holders of a federal specialist certificate (professional examination) related to the course are admitted to the course.

Authorisation with supplementary professional experience

Internship
Candidates holding a school leaving certificate must provide evidence of completing a professional internship of at least 12 months before commencing a bachelor programme. If you lack this practical experience, the Youth2Engineers program offers you a entry level. You complete a two-month pre-study internship at the ZHAW School of Engineering, followed by a ten-month internship in a company.

Work-study Bachelor’s degree programme
To be admitted to the practice-integrated Bachelor programme, the student must have a training contract (= internship contract) with a company, as well as the school-leaving certificate.

Additional conditions concerning permission to study

Candidates not fulfilling the above requirements are kindly requested to contact the study programme secretariat (bachelor.engineering@zhaw.ch).

Admission with foreign diploma

Applicants with a foreign diploma are admitted if the foreign diploma is equivalent and the language skills are at level C1 according to the common European reference framework. Equivalence is based on the requirements of swissuniversities and can only be checked by the ZHAW admissions office after the application has been submitted in full. Please check the detailed information on admission and the necessary documents under the following link: Detailed information on admission with a foreign diploma