In contrast to an ordinary school, a special school is an educational institution for compulsory education that provides teaching that is adapted to different types of disability or to pupils with considerable learning difficulties or severe behavioural problems within the scope of compulsory education.
In 2016/17 there were 445 special schools in Switzerland. The canton of Geneva had the greatest share of special schools (19%). In the three cantons with the highest number (GE, TI, JU), these schools are on average smaller than those in other cantons (fewer than 20 pupils per school). In seven cantons, the proportion of special schools was less than 3%. The canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes did not have any. The distribution of pupils in special schools is to some extent intercantonal. In the canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes, pupils attend mainly special schools in Appenzell Outer Rhodes and in the canton of St. Gallen. Across Switzerland, the share of special schools in compulsory education is 4.6%.
