How school holidays work in Switzerland
Switzerland has no national school system. Each of its 26 cantons organises its own education system independently – including school holidays.
Cantonal responsibility
School holidays are set by the cantonal education directorate. There is no national mandate for holiday dates. In some cantons (e.g. Grisons, Valais), dates even vary from municipality to municipality.
Typical holiday periods
Most cantons have five holiday blocks: autumn break (September/October), Christmas break (December/January), sport break (January–March), spring break (March/April), and summer break (June–August). Exact dates and durations vary considerably.
Coordination by EDK
The Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK/CDIP) publishes an annual consolidated overview of all cantonal school holidays. This serves as a reference but is not binding.
Notable differences
Not all cantons have sport breaks (e.g. Zurich, Aargau). Ticino has the longest summer holidays at about 10 weeks. Some cantons have particularly long autumn breaks (e.g. Schaffhausen, Solothurn). French-speaking cantons tend to have longer summer holidays than German-speaking ones.