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ISL Future Pathways - Global Destinations
How is the IB Diploma recognised in Switzerland?
ISL students continuously attain outstanding academic results that enables them to enter Swiss universities.
Our students:
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benefit from individual counselling to help them choose subjects to enable them to thrive throughout their degrees.
- consistently report back that they were well prepared to succeed at university due to the critical thinking, communication and intercultural skills cultivated at school.
Navigating the Swiss Landscape
Switzerland offers three primary pillars of higher education, each catering to different student profiles, the IB Diploma Programme enables entry to all three:
- Public Research Universities: Focused on academic excellence and theoretical research (e.g., EPFL, ETHZ, UNIL, UNIGE, St. Gallen).
- Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS): Practical, industry-linked programmes with high employability outcomes (e.g., EHL, HSLU, ZHAW, HEG-Genève).
- Private & Hospitality Schools: Small, inclusive environments often taught entirely in English (e.g. Webster, Franklin, Glion, Les Roches).
Alumni Success
Features Stories:
- Jan (EPFL): Graduated from ISL and utilized the CMS (foundation year) at EPFL as a smart transition into Electrical Engineering. He now serves as a student leader of the Rocket Launch Society.
- Anusha (UNIL Medicine): Successfully navigated the competitive entry into the Swiss medical track after considering global options.
- Martina (UNIL Psychology): Shares insights on transitioning from the IB into the French-speaking university system.
- Rashid (St. Gallen): Insight into adapting to high-level Business and Economics studies in German.
Expert Support for Swiss Pathways
Students wishing to study in Switzerland are guided to select their subjects in line with the Swiss IB requirements listed here.
Smart Transitions
We guide students to choose IB subjects that will give them the best possible foundation for higher education.
Examples of subject combinations include:
- Engineering (EPFL) student may take: HL Physics, HL Mathematics AA, HL Chemistry, SL French A, SL English A, SL Geography
- Medicine student may take: HL Biology, HL Chemistry or Physics, English French, Math and one of Geography / Economics or History
- An Economics and Management (St Gallen / HEC UNIL) Student may take : HL Economics, HL Mathematics, HL French A Language and Literature, SL Biology, English A Lit and SL Geography
- A hospitality (EHL student) may take: HL Economics, HL Geography, HL French A, SL English A, SL Biology, SL Music
- Portfolio degrees: aadmission by portfolio to Art and Design degrees frees students to take any subject in the IB Diploma Programme
- Applied Excellence: Showcasing the growing flexibility of Applied Science Universities institutions like HSLU and ZHAW, which now accept a wider range of IB subjects such as Design Technology and Environmental Systems and Societies
Students are encouraged to attend local Open days, Summer Programmes and attend talks at local universities.
Swiss passport holders and residents enjoy admission benefits.
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United Kingdom
Every year our students University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, LSE, and Imperial College London. Frequent destinations include University of the Arts London, UCL, King’s College, Exeter, York, Bath, Manchester, St Andrews, Warwick. Edinburgh and for a wide variety of degrees.
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North America
Students have secured places all over the USA including Chicago, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, Boston University and NYU, to name a few. In Canada, students frequently go McGill, University of Toronto, and UBC.
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Continental Europe
Our students thrive at Bocconi (Italy), IE University and ESADE (Spain), Sciences Po and Parsons Paris (France), and universities across the Netherlands including, TU Delft Maastricht, Amsterdam, Leiden and Rotterdam.
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Global Reach
Recent alumni have also embarked on studies in South Korea (Yonsei), Australia (University of Melbourne), Hong Kong (HKU), Singapore (NUS) and China (NYU).
Global Trends: How ISL Students are Leading the Way
The Rise of the Netherlands
We are seeing a significant trend of students choosing the Netherlands for its high-ranking English-taught programmes.
Diversity in Creative Fields
ISL is a hub for the arts. A growing number of students are entering world-class creative institutions such as UAL (Central Saint Martins) in London, ECAL in Lausanne, Parson’s Paris, Pratt in New York and ESMA in Lyon for Animation and Design.
The STEM Surge
There is a clear trend toward high-level STEM subjects, with graduates pursuing Engineering, Medicine, and Computer Science.
Interdisciplinary Interests
Many alumni are now opting for multi-disciplinary degrees such as PPE (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics), Behaviour and Social Science and Digital Innovation, preparing them for the complex job markets of the future.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma is widely recognised and respected by universities and governments worldwide. Each year, over 4,500 universities in more than 110 countries and territories receive IB students’ transcripts, confirming the Diploma Programme’s strong global standing as a rigorous pre‑university qualification.
IB graduates are valued not only for their academic preparation but also for the IB learner profile attributes, including critical thinking, independence, intercultural understanding and ethical responsibility. These qualities support students’ success at university.
Recognition policies for the IB Diploma vary by country and institution and can be verified through the IB’s Recognition Statements Database, which outlines how the qualification is considered for admission, credit, or advanced standing worldwide.
As an IB World School, the International School of Lausanne (ISL) benefits directly from this recognition, with graduates gaining admission to leading universities across the globe.
Our Future Pathways Programme prepares students for their future no matter the destination.
Discover where an ISL education can lead. Explore our alumni success stories and hear firsthand how former students have gone on to thrive at leading universities, innovative companies, and in communities around the world.
