Transition Barometer April 2024
The Transition Barometer, commissioned by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), provides insights twice a year into the educational choices made by young people transitioning from compulsory schooling to further education and into the Swiss apprenticeship market.
In spring 2025, 60% of young people at transition point I already have a firm plan for their next step. At the same time, the allocation of apprenticeship places is in full swing: 67% of the apprenticeship places on offer have already been filled. This indicates an active apprenticeship market in which supply and demand are dynamically aligned.
The second part of the survey in August will then provide information on the final training paths chosen and the situation on the apprenticeship market.
Jugendliche
Young people at the transition stage I
96,855 young people aged between 15 and 17 (Ticino: 14 to 16) will be faced with choosing a further education in March/April 2025.
Most often, they consider basic vocational training after completing compulsory schooling. Highschcools are the second most popular option. Over a quarter of young people plan to take a gap year or enrol in a bridging programme.
Trend Interests of young people
63 per cent of young people interested in basic vocational training already have a signed apprenticeship contract, which corresponds to 28,975 individuals. This proportion is back at the pre-pandemic level for the third time in a row (2024: 61%, 2023: 62%, 2022: 56%, 2021: 52%, 2020: 56%, 2019: 61%). A further 11 per cent – a total of 4,854 young people – have received a verbal offer of an apprenticeship. It should be noted that these figures only reflect part of the total demand for apprenticeships, namely that of 15- to 17-year-olds (in Ticino: 14- to 16-year-olds) at the end of their compulsory schooling.
Follow-up school solutions also play an important role. 24,171 young people passed entrance exams for highschools and vocational schools or received offers for other programmes such as a gap year or bridge programmes.
This means that a total of 57,999 young people – equivalent to 60 per cent of those surveyed – already have a firm follow-up solution after the summer holidays. This figure is once again well above the level seen in the pandemic years and is approaching the figures for 2020 (2024: 64%, 2023: 63%, 2022: 51%, 2021: 51%, 2020: 51%, 2019: 57%).
The transition barometer also shows the central role played by parents in the process of choosing a training programme. 81 per cent of the young people surveyed said that they were supported by their parents. This makes parents the most important point of contact for questions about educational choices – ahead of teachers, who were perceived as supportive by 47 per cent of young people.
Comapnies
A total of 57 percent of the companies surveyed will offer apprenticeships in 2025.
The projected total number of apprenticeship places available in 2025 is 76,273. Of these, 91 per cent – or 69,658 apprenticeship places – are for basic vocational training leading to a Federal VET Diploma (EFZ). A further 8 per cent (5,926 places) relate to basic vocational training leading to a Federal Vocational Certificate (EBA). The remaining 1 per cent could not be clearly allocated due to incomplete information.
In 2025, the majority of apprenticeship places will continue to be concentrated in a few key sectors: trade, health and social services, and construction. This stable foundation will be complemented by a short-term increase in apprenticeship places in the freelance services sector. Together, these sectors account for over half of all apprenticeship places and thus form a pillar of the apprenticeship market.
Apprenticeship vacancies by sector
For the vast majority of companies, the number of apprenticeship places on offer has remained unchanged compared with the previous year: 78 per cent of companies are offering the same number of apprenticeship places in 2025 as in 2024. 11 per cent of companies have expanded their offering, while 10 per cent are offering fewer apprenticeship places than in the previous year. This distribution has remained largely stable for several years.
At the time of the survey in March/April 2025, 67 per cent of the apprenticeship places on offer – equivalent to 50,844 positions – had already been filled. This proportion remains at a consistently high level and indicates stable recruitment dynamics. Only in the years 2021 to 2023 was a slight decline observed (2024: 66%, 2023: 63%, 2022: 64%, 2021: 63%); previously, the proportion was at a similar or even higher level (2020: 66%, 2019: 67%, 2018: 70%).
The trilingual cockpit for the first wave in 2025 provides an initial overview of the current situation at interface I (German, French, Italian).
