Lycée

Achieving a high school diploma opens the doors to higher education institutions (University, HES, HEP) or other professional training paths. The Lycée Saint-Charles is an institution recognised by the Swiss Confederation and is authorised to let its students sit the Maturité exams. As of 2016, the Lycée Saint-Charles offers a bilingual French-English Maturité exam.

The school differentiates itself by the duration of studies and the pace of work. The students take their Maturité diplomas after four years of courses. This schedule allows students to reconcile their studies with extra-curricular activities and to develop their know-how, as well as, their social skills. The pace of study is steady. The free time provided is beneficial to students’ development.

In addition to study tours, excursions and cultural visits, the Lycée Saint-Charles arranges special days dedicated to specific and additional activities. Students are invited to conferences organised by the Saint-Charles Forum association, which welcomes people from all walks of life.

Saint-Charles, committed to encouraging language learning, has set up a bilingual French-English Maturité branch. In accordance with the requirements of Commission Suisse de Maturité, teaching activities in the target language will account for more than 1,300 hours spread over the four years of the Lycée. Join us, open up and be ready to become a true citizen of the world!

Organised around specific classes delivered in English, out model for the bilingual Maturité is that of partial immersion at the student’s original school. Teaching in English may be provided for a specific option (Biology, Chemistry) and for a supplementary option (Biology, History), depending on the number of students that are following the bilingual course and enrolled on these options. For subjects taught in English, the teaching materials are given in the target language, as are the oral and written evaluations.

Depending on the year, taking the bilingual immersion course may mean that choices of specific options are limited. In addition, Saint-Charles strongly encourages students to undertake at least one language-learning stay abroad during their bilingual Maturité programme. For the rest, all the requirements of the framework curricula and all their objectives apply.

The goals of the bilingual Maturité :

• To promote language and communication skills by enabling students to speak English fluently and to achieve better spoken and written skills.
• To develop a wider vocabulary and range of concepts: scientific vocabulary, specific human sciences vocabulary, etc.
• To take the C1 exams at the end of the preparation course.

Terms of admission:

Students who qualify for the Lycée in accordance with cantonal regulations can access the bilingual Maturité programme, starting from their first year of the Lycée. A high level of language is not required to access the bilingual pathway, but it is vital to be willing to express oneself, to be motivated and prepared to invest in a demanding, albeit immensely rewarding course.

Any student wishing to pursue their studies abroad may take preparatory courses in order to obtain internationally recognised diplomas :

• Goethe Zertifikat and TestDaf (German)
• First Certificate (English)
• Celi (Italian)