Adriane Galisteu's son is going to boarding school in Switzerland: the path to Swiss boarding schools
In August 2026, Adriane Galisteu announced that her son Vittorio, 16, had gone to a boarding school in Switzerland. A Swiss boarding school is high school with the student living on campus. Be Easy builds that path with the family, from choosing the school to arrival.
How does a Swiss boarding school work?
A Swiss boarding school is residential high school: the student lives, studies and shares daily life with classmates from many countries on the same campus, for the whole school year. Sport, languages and house life are part of the education, not only after class.
The routine stays at school. He wakes up on campus, goes to class without crossing town, and has a supervisor in charge of the residence nearby at night.
What is the boarding-school routine like?
- Morning: breakfast with classmates and class on the same campus, with no neighborhood commute. The student does not need transport to start the day.
- Afternoon: sport, club or lab, still on school grounds. Education continues after class, with supervision.
- Evening: supervised study, a shared dinner and house adults. They follow homework, bedtime and any request for help.
In high school in Switzerland, boarding usually follows one of these three paths:
• IB Diploma: the International Baccalaureate, founded in Geneva in 1968, is a two-year upper-secondary diploma accepted by universities in Europe, the United States and Canada
• Maturité / Maturität: the Swiss upper-secondary credential, tied to the national path and read mainly in the Swiss system
• Bilingual track: English with French or German, depending on the campus region, so the student can study and live in the language of the street
Boarding school or high school: what changes for your child?
We separate the two by how the student lives, not only by the subjects. The question is whether your child can handle their own routine in a new place.
• High school: the student studies by day and lives with a host family. There is more autonomy in free time. It takes maturity to cross the neighborhood, manage Saturday and keep the house agreements.
• Boarding school: the student lives at school. Meals and a room are shared with classmates. Evenings stay on campus, with supervised study. In full boarding, Saturday does too. In weekly boarding, the family and the school agree on going out.
The boarding school vs. high school guide and the high school exchange help the family choose better between the two formats, in the 14 to 18 age range.
How we build the path to a boarding school in Switzerland
We build the path 12 to 18 months ahead, so school, place and visa line up.
The steps, in this order:
- Profile: curriculum, classroom language, weekly boarding or the full year, and the type of campus, mountain or more urban. Without that cut, the family chooses a school in the dark.
- Application: school records, English, an interview and signs that the student can handle residential life. The school needs to see that they thrive with a closed routine.
- Study visa: a letter from the school, proof from the family and, if the student is a minor, parental authorization. In Switzerland the request goes through the representation abroad and the canton.
- Arrival: a room on campus, house adults and agreements on calls, holidays and what to do if they fall ill. None of that is left to solve after departure.
What goes into the visa requirements?
For a Swiss study visa, the family gathers enrollment and proof that the student has somewhere to live and the means to live. In boarding school, the house is the campus.
• School acceptance letter
• Family financial proof
• Parental authorization, if the student is a minor
• Passport and the application at the Swiss representation abroad
Which boarding school in Switzerland is in our curation?
In Switzerland, the school we present to families is Verbier International School. It sits in the Alps, works with the IB and puts the mountain in the student's calendar.
Day to day, Verbier delivers:
• Classes in English, with French from the francophone region
• IB at the end of high school, read by universities in several countries
• House, class and routine on the same campus, with residence adults
• Skiing and mountain life in the school year, not as a one-off outing
• Winter Term: a shorter period, in winter, at the same school. It lets the student live the experience before a full year.
Frequently asked questions about boarding school in Switzerland
Does my child need to speak German or French to get in?
In many international boarding schools, class is in English. The regional language comes in during the year. We confirm the classroom language before locking the destination. For very low English, leveling can be done before the trip.
How far ahead does the family need to start?
The timeline we ask for is 12 to 18 months. School, place and visa need to move together. With only a few months, the options shrink.
Is the Swiss study visa complicated for a teenager?
It asks for a letter from the school, proof from the family and, if the student is a minor, parental authorization. We follow each step.
Is the diploma valid for university in another country?
The IB Diploma is valid in Europe, the United States and Canada. The Maturité is the Swiss high-school credential.
Does boarding school in Switzerland fit your child's profile?
If you are considering boarding school in Switzerland, the next step is to look at your child's profile. We are ready to guide your child toward an internationally recognized education.
Be Easy: boutique study-abroad consultancy
Be Easy supports families who want to give their child a real advantage before university. If your child is interested in a boarding school in Switzerland, we have the right curation so they can build that path in the right setting, with a dedicated senior consultant at every step. Contact us to receive specialized senior consultancy!
