Switzerland

• ETH Zurich and EPFL are technical universities for science and engineering, and tuition is a fraction of what an equivalent place costs in the UK or the US.
• The rules are written down. swissuniversities publishes exactly which IB subjects and how many points are needed, so you can check your eligibility in Y1 rather than guess.
• As an EU/EFTA citizen you get a straightforward student residence permit and access to part-time work.
• Small countries, short distances, and universities with genuinely close contact between staff and students - USI quotes one lecturer per seven students.
• If you already have strong German, French or Italian, the whole public system opens up to you at very low tuition.

• ETH doubled down on international students: from autumn semester 2025 the tuition for foreign students is CHF 2,190 (about €2,330) per semester against CHF 730 (about €780) for Swiss residents. Coming straight from Denmark, you pay the higher rate.
• ETH requires Maths, a natural science and a Language A all at Higher Level. An IB student with HL Maths, HL Physics and three SLs including Visual Arts or Psychology falls outside the rule and faces an entrance examination in German.
• The ETH entrance examination route runs on a very long lead time: for autumn 2027 entry you had to apply by 31 March 2026 and the exam runs 18-28 January 2027, in German. That March deadline has already passed, so if you need the exam you are looking at autumn 2028.
• Language, not grades, is what stops most IB students applying from Denmark: ETH teaches bachelor's in German, the University of Zurich requires German at C1, and EPFL requires French at B2.
• Living costs are high: ETH estimates CHF 22,100 a year for rent, food, transport, insurance and personal costs in Zurich, before tuition.
• EPFL has capped its first-year bachelor intake at 3,000 students from 2025, with Swiss maturity holders guaranteed admission and everyone else ranked.

Accepted

Yes

Minimum

32 out of 42 points (bonus points not counted) at most Swiss universities. ETH Zurich and EPFL require 38 out of 42.

Subjects and levels

swissuniversities requires six subjects, one from each of six categories: (1) first language; (2) second language (any recognised language); (3) mathematics, HL or SL; (4) natural sciences - biology, chemistry or physics; (5) humanities and social sciences - geography, history, or economics / business and management; (6) an elective from categories 2, 4 or 5, or computer science or philosophy. Computer science and philosophy may only be used as the sixth subject. At least three of the six must be Higher Level, and one of those Higher Level subjects must be mathematics or another natural science. ETH Zurich is stricter still: admission without an entrance examination requires 38/42 points; at Higher Level you must have (a) Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches or Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation, (b) physics, chemistry or biology, and (c) one Language A; at Standard Level you must have three further subjects from physics, chemistry, biology, geography, history, economics or business management, one further language only, or computer science. EPFL requires Mathematics, Physics and one of chemistry, biology or computer science at Higher Level; two modern languages and one of history, geography, economics or philosophy at SL or HL; 38/42 points; and grades of at least 6 out of 7 in mathematics and physics.

• The ETH rule is exclusive, not illustrative. Subjects that do not appear on its Standard Level list - for example Visual Arts, Theatre, Psychology, Global Politics or Environmental Systems and Societies - do not count towards the three required SL subjects, and the consequence is the ETH entrance examination, which is held in German.
• The ETH entrance examination comes in two forms: reduced (CHF 550) and comprehensive (CHF 800), covering mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography and languages. ETH decides which one applies only after you have submitted a complete application.
• EPFL applies lower thresholds to Swiss applicants (36 points and grade 5/7 in maths and physics) than to everyone else, so the 38-point bar is the one that applies to an IB applicant from Denmark.
• The swissuniversities requirements are published as valid for 2026/27 and updated annually; on 24 September 2026 the 2027/28 version was not yet out, so re-check before applying.
• No official conversion of IB points into Swiss grades (1-6) is published. Swiss admission is generally pass/fail against the threshold rather than ranked by a converted grade.

1. In Y1, before your subject choices are locked, check your six subjects against the swissuniversities rule and, if you are aiming at ETH or EPFL, against their stricter rules.

2. Decide on the teaching language early. German at C1 or French at B2 is a year or more of work, and it is the requirement most IB students underestimate — unless German or French is already one of your languages.

3. By autumn 2026, take the application deadline from each university's own page - Swiss deadlines fall much earlier than German or Austrian ones. ETH closes 31 March, EPFL and Zurich 30 April, all before your results exist.

4. If ETH is the target and your combination does not meet the exam-free rule, apply in time for the entrance examination cycle, which starts more than a year ahead.

5. Submit the application with predicted grades and school documents, and send the final Diploma as soon as it arrives in early July 2027.

6. Once admitted, arrange the residence permit, compulsory Swiss health insurance and housing - all three take time and all three cost more than you expect.

Most Swiss universities admit on qualification rather than ranking: meet the points, the subject rule and the language requirement and you are in. The exceptions matter, though. Medicine is restricted nationally and uses an aptitude test. EPFL now caps first-year bachelor places and ranks non-Swiss applicants by academic performance. ETH funnels anyone outside its exact IB rule into a German-language entrance examination. The University of St Gallen's places for applicants with foreign school-leaving certificates are limited by law, so they go through a selection procedure of an online aptitude test and a video interview.

• 31 March 2026
  2027 entry

  ETH Zurich - application when an entrance examination will be needed (autumn 2027 entry)

  Applies to: applicants whose IB subject combination does not meet the ETH exam-free rule

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  ETH publishes one cycle at a time, and the cycle live on 23 September 2026 is this one: "You must apply by 31 March 2026 at the latest" in order to sit the examination of 18-28 January 2027 and begin in autumn semester 2027. If your IB subject combination does not meet the exam-free rule, you had to be in the system eighteen months ahead. That deadline has now passed, so a student reading this in autumn 2026 who needs the examination is realistically applying for autumn 2028 instead - ETH had not published that cycle's dates on 23 September 2026. The other two steps of this timetable have their own entries here.

  Source

• 1 December 2026

  ETH Zurich bachelor applications open

  Via Swiss university

  Details

  ETH publishes day and month only; the year is read for autumn 2027 entry.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• 1 January to 30 April 2027
  2027 entry - published with no year; this site assumes the 2027 intake

  University of Zurich - application period for the autumn semester

  Applies to: holders of a foreign certificate who do not need a visa, which includes EU/EEA citizens

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  UZH publishes "1 January until 30 April" as the ordinary autumn-semester window, "1 May until 31 July" as an extended window available for Swiss qualifications only, and "1 January until 28 February" for applicants who need a visa. An EU/EEA citizen needs a residence permit rather than a visa, so 30 April is the deadline that applies - and the extended July window, which would have let you apply after results, is the one you cannot use. UZH also requires German at C1.

  Source

• 31 March 2027, 23:59 Zurich time

  ETH Zurich bachelor applications close

  Hard deadline Via Swiss university

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Published on ETH's "How to apply" page, not on its admission-prerequisites page: the application period runs "from 1 December to 31 March, 23:59 Central European Time". ETH gives no years; this site assumes the autumn 2027 intake. This closes more than three months before IB results, so you apply on predicted grades and upload the Diploma when it arrives. ETH can only decide whether you need an entrance examination once a complete application has been submitted through eApply, which is why applying early inside the window matters. An application fee is charged; the amount was not stated on the page.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• 30 April 2027

  EPFL and the University of Zurich close for bachelor applications

  Hard deadline Via Swiss university

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Both publish 30 April with no year; read here for autumn 2027. EPFL opens in mid-November and the CHF 150 fee is due by the same day. The University of Zurich opens on 1 January and its later July window is for Swiss certificates only.

  EPFL publishes it as "Applications can be submitted from mid-November to the 30th of April to start your studies at EPFL the following September", so the window opens in mid-November of the preceding year with no day given and there is no opening date here to count down to. 30 April is also the day the application fee must be paid - CHF 150 for a holder of a foreign certificate, CHF 50 for a Swiss one - and the fee is paid when the application is first submitted. Like ETH, EPFL closes before IB results exist.

  Source

• 6 July 2027

  IB results released

  Via Swiss university

• 10 July 2027
  2027 entry - published with no year; this site assumes the 2027 intake

  EPFL - deadline for uploading supporting documents

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  EPFL publishes 10 July as the deadline for uploading supporting documents, with "September 30th exceptionally for certificates/diplomas delivered after July 10". That is four days after IB results are released on 6 July. If your school cannot put the Diploma in your hands inside those four days, this is the exception you will be relying on - and the 30 September backstop is its own entry here, because missing that one cancels the admission.

  Source

• 30 September 2027
  2027 entry - published with no year; this site assumes the 2027 intake

  EPFL - final deadline for the diploma itself, after which admission is cancelled

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  EPFL's wording: "The document attesting the successful completion of the title granting admission to EPFL ... must be submitted no later than September 30th. Admission is otherwise canceled." That is after term has started. An IB Diploma issued in July is comfortably inside it; a re-mark, a November retake or a certificate held up in the post is not.

  Source

• Set by each institution

  Every other university's own closing date

  Via Swiss university

  Details

  No national portal and no national date. Each university sets its own; most fall in spring, before IB results.

• Date not published
  2027 entry

  EPFL - admission decisions for holders of an IB or EU/EFTA/UK certificate

  Applies to: holders of an IB Diploma or an EU, EFTA or UK school-leaving certificate

  Details

  A month, not a date: "Holders of an upper secondary school-leaving certificate from a country that is a member of EU, EFTA, or UK or of an International Baccalaureate (IB) will be accepted at the beginning of August within the places available." It is on the Bachelor/CMS admission criteria page, and the FAQ repeats "Decisions are communicated ... beginning of August" for the bachelor and "at the end of July" for the CMS preparatory year. "Within the places available" is the operative phrase: first-year places are capped at 3,000 from 2025 and selection for non-Swiss applicants is made "based on the general average of the school-leaving certificate".

  Source 1 · Source 2

• Set by each institution
  2027 entry

  Other Swiss universities (Bern, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg, Lucerne, Neuchatel, St Gallen, USI)

  Details

  There is no Swiss central admission system and no national application deadline: each university sets and publishes its own, and swissuniversities coordinates recommendations rather than applications. The University of Zurich's window is a separate entry above; Basel and the other cantonal universities publish windows of the same shape, typically closing 30 April, but only Zurich's is confirmed here. Take the rest from each university's own admission page in autumn 2026.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• Not open to you

  ETH Zurich - entrance examination registration (only if you applied by 31 March 2026)

  Only for applicants who applied to ETH by 31 March 2026. Applying now, from 1 December 2026, you cannot sit this examination.

  Source

• Not open to you

  ETH Zurich - entrance examination sitting (only if you applied by 31 March 2026)

  Only for applicants who applied to ETH by 31 March 2026. Applying now, from 1 December 2026, you cannot sit this examination.

  Source

English-taught bachelors

Rare. Swiss public universities teach bachelor's in German, French or Italian - ETH's bachelor programmes are in German, the University of Zurich requires German at C1 from foreign applicants, and EPFL requires French at B2 with C1 recommended. The public exceptions are USI Lugano (Informatics and Data Science in English, and an English track in Economics) and St Gallen, whose Assessment Year in economic sciences can be taken entirely in English. Otherwise English-taught bachelor's are at private institutions such as Franklin University Switzerland, Webster Geneva, EHL and EU Business School.

Proving your English

Not a barrier on its own - IB English A is accepted where English proficiency is required. The binding requirement is usually the local teaching language, not English.

Local language needed?

Yes, for most programmes

• ETH: "The main teaching language in all Bachelor's degree programmes is German."
• University of Zurich requires German at C1 on the Common European Framework from applicants with foreign certificates.
• EPFL requires French at level B2 for its bachelor's, and strongly recommends C1.
• USI's Communication bachelor requires Italian at B2 for non-native speakers.
• If you are not already strong in one of these languages, Switzerland is realistically a master's destination rather than a bachelor's one - unless you pay for a private English-taught school.

Tuition, EU/EEA

There is no EU/non-EU split in Switzerland - the split is between students with Swiss residence or citizenship and everyone else. A student moving from Denmark counts as a foreign student, whatever their EU/EEA passport. At ETH Zurich that means CHF 2,190 per semester (about €2,330 at the ECB rate of 24 September 2026) rather than CHF 730. (From autumn semester 2025)

Tuition, non-EU

ETH Zurich charges CHF 2,190 per semester (threefold tuition) to foreign students who were not resident in Switzerland or Liechtenstein when they obtained their entrance qualification; CHF 730 per semester applies to Swiss and Liechtenstein citizens and residents, and to certain EU/EFTA citizens with qualifying permits. Students already enrolled before autumn 2025 keep the old rate until they finish. Fees at other Swiss universities are not confirmed here; check with each university. (From autumn semester 2025)

Application fee

Set by each university: EPFL CHF 150 for a foreign certificate; St Gallen CHF 268; ETH charges a non-refundable fee whose amount its page does not state. The University of Zurich lists no fee for the ordinary deadline. Private schools charge their own (EU Business School CHF 200).

Living costs

About CHF 1,840 a month in Zurich: ETH puts rent, food, transport, health insurance and personal costs at CHF 22,100 a year, or CHF 28,100 including its foreign-student tuition and study costs. Lugano, St Gallen, Fribourg and Bern are cheaper. (ETH estimate, rents averaged for 2024)

• The ETH entrance examination costs CHF 550 (reduced) or CHF 800 (comprehensive), on top of any application fee.
• Living costs are by a wide margin the biggest number in a Swiss budget. ETH's estimate is the only official figure on this page; check your target university's own.
• An EU student who does not work can use the EHIC instead of Swiss health insurance; once you take a job you must take out Swiss basic insurance, a monthly premium on top of rent and food.
• Application fees are per application and non-refundable where charged - see the application fee above.

Funding you could actually get

• Danish SU can follow you here if you can claim it (Danish citizens, or EU/EEA citizens with equal status under EU rules) and meet the ties-to-Denmark requirement. Check with su.dk whether and how a Swiss degree qualifies, because Swiss living costs make this the decisive factor. If you cannot claim SU, look first at your own country's student finance: several EU/EEA systems fund a full degree in another country.
• The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships are aimed at postgraduate and research level, not at bachelor's entry - do not build a plan around them.
• Individual universities run their own hardship and merit funds; ETH's Financial Aid Office is the contact point there.
• Private English-taught institutions such as Franklin and EHL run their own scholarship schemes, which can change the real price significantly - ask for the net figure.
• Erasmus+ works differently in Switzerland, which runs its own mobility programme rather than participating fully in Erasmus+.

Residency

Switzerland is not in the EU, but EU/EFTA citizens are covered by the free movement agreement and get a residence permit (permit B for students) rather than a visa. You register at the local commune within the period they specify after arriving, showing your admission letter, proof of financial means and health insurance. Non-EU students need a student visa arranged through a Swiss embassy well in advance.

Working

EU/EFTA students may work up to 15 hours a week during the semester without a separate work permit and up to full time in the semester breaks; more than 15 hours in term needs a permit from the cantonal migration office. Taking a job also ends the EHIC-based health cover, so you must switch to Swiss health insurance first (ETH Zurich).

Housing

Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne have tight, expensive rental markets, and student halls do not come close to covering demand. Start as soon as you have an offer, use the university's own housing service, and expect a shared flat rather than a studio. Lugano, St Gallen, Fribourg and Bern are noticeably easier.

Healthcare

Swiss basic health insurance is compulsory for residents, but the federal health office says students from EU/EFTA countries do not have to take it out as long as they are not working: they are covered by their home system and treated on the European Health Insurance Card. If you start working you must take out Swiss insurance. Cantons handle the formalities, so register your EHIC cover with the cantonal authority in your first weeks as your university's international office directs.

EPFL's lower threshold for "Swiss applicants" may cover you too: ask EPFL whether it means citizenship or a Swiss school certificate.