Enrolment in a Baccalaureate school usually takes place in the last year of lower secondary level or following the lower secondary level. The Baccalaureate programme generally lasts four years. In the case of a three-year Baccalaureate programme (enrolment after lower secondary level), preparatory Baccalaureate education must take place in the last year of lower secondary education. Alongside Baccalaureate schools that last four years (short-cycle Baccalaureate schools), some German-speaking cantons also have Baccalaureate schools in which enrolment takes place after primary level (long-cycle Baccalaureate schools, which last six years). The French-speaking and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland do not have any long-cycle Baccalaureate schools.

Each Canton stipulates the conditions for admission to a Baccalaureate school. The decision is based on an assessment of the student’s achievements. This may take the shape of an overall assessment, the student’s grades, an entrance examination, or a combination of these instruments.

The educational goals of the Baccalaureate schools are to teach the students basic knowledge and skills with a view towards life-long learning, to encourage intellectual open-mindedness and independent thinking and judging, and to achieve the readiness to study at university. Baccalaureate schools aim to promote intelligence, personality development and health, individual study and working techniques, acquisition of knowledge and use of ICT, and skills in the fields of social issues, ethics, politics, science, communication, culture and aesthetics.

The Baccalaureate schools teach according to curricula which are issued or approved by the canton and are based on the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education's core curriculum for baccalaureate schools.

The basic subjects, a specialised subject and a complementary subject constitute the Baccalaureate subjects; a Baccalaureate essay must also be completed.

The following subjects are basic subjects:

All students take an introductory course in economics/law and computer science as additional compulsory subjects. The cantons can offer philosophy as an additional compulsory subject.

The specialised subject can be selected from eight subjects or groups of subjects, and the complementary subject from fourteen. Not all subjects are offered at all schools. The cantons determine which subjects are offered at baccalaureate schools.

The cantons specify the number of hours per week according to the Federal Council's Ordinance on Recognition of Baccalaureate (MAV) respectively the Regulation on Recognition of Baccalaureate (MAR) issued by the Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK). According to the MAR/MAV the proportions of time allocated to compulsory subjects are 30 to 40%, for mathematics and natural sciences 25 to 35%, for humanities and social sciences 10 to 20%, and for visual arts and/or music 5 to 10%. The total time allocated for the main specialism, secondary specialism and Baccalaureate essay is 15 to 25%.

In most cantons, there are Baccalaureate schools at which a bilingual Baccalaureate can be obtained. In addition, students can often obtain international foreign language certificates, or enrol in preparatory courses for the certificate examinations.

The cantons regulate the assessment of students. The assessment is oriented towards the curriculum's learning objectives. On the basis of the learning objectives, the teacher determines which knowledge and skills the students must achieve and is responsible for the assessment. Performance is assessed by means of a grade scale of 1 to 6 (6 = best grade, 4 = sufficient, below 4 = insufficient). At the end of a semester or school year, a graded report is issued, which is decisive regarding transition to the next grade. Learning reports are seldom used.

At the end of the Baccalaureate programme, a written Baccalaureate examination, which may also be supplemented by oral examinations is taken in at least five Baccalaureate subjects. The examination subjects are the first language, a second national language, mathematics, the specialised subject and one further subject. The Baccalaureate grades are determined by: