Special needs schools represent a minority in the Swiss school system (3.5% of all educational institutions). They belong to both the primary and lower secondary levels. They differ from other educational institutions with regard to the authority responsible for their funding, their geographical distribution and their organization within and between cantons. For this reason, they are considered separately here.
In contrast to a mainstream school, a special needs school is an educational institution for compulsory education that provides teaching that is adapted to different types of disability or to pupils with major learning difficulties or severe behavioral problems within the framework of compulsory education.
In 2019/20 there were 466 special needs schools in Switzerland. The proportion of special needs schools in compulsory education is highest in the cantons of Geneva, Ticino and Jura. In these three cantons, these schools are on average smaller than in the other cantons (fewer than 20 pupils per school). In five cantons, the proportion of special needs schools was less than 3% (GR, TG, NW, UR, BS). The canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes did not have any. Pupils from the canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes mainly attend special needs schools in the cantons of Appenzell Outer Rhodes and St. Gallen. Some pupils are therefore enrolled in schools outside their canton of residence. In Switzerland, the proportion of special needs schools in compulsory education is 4.9%, catering for 1.8% of pupils.
