The Zentrale Aufnahmeprüfung, ZAP, decides each year which children in Canton Zurich earn a spot at a Langgymnasium, the six-year academic track entered directly after 6th grade primary. For many families, it’s the first big fork in their child’s educational path.
If your child is sitting it in 2027, here’s the essentials in one place: dates, exam format, the pass mark, and the points that matter most when preparing.
This article is exclusively about the ZAP for the Langgymnasium, the entry after 6th grade primary. The separate ZAP for the Kurzgymnasium (after 2nd or 3rd Sekundarschule) covers different content and uses a different grading formula — both exams take place on the same day in Canton Zurich. A separate guide on the Kurzgymnasium ZAP is coming.
Key dates at a glance
| Milestone | 2027 date |
|---|---|
| Request login credentials (pre-registration) | from 1 September 2026 |
| Registration window (online via zh.ch/zap) | 1 January to 10 February 2027 |
| ZAP Langgymnasium (written) | Monday, 8 March 2027 |
| Results published | Late March to early April 2027 |
| Probezeit at the Langgymnasium | August 2027 to January 2028 |
Note: login credentials for the online portal can already be requested from 1 September 2026, but the actual registration window only opens 1 January 2027 and closes 10 February 2027. The registration fee is CHF 50 and is non-refundable.
The Schulpfad Pathway Map shows the latest dates per school.
Who has to sit the ZAP for the Langgymnasium
The Langgymnasium is the six-year gymnasium, entered directly after 6th grade primary. To enter, a child has to pass the cantonal entrance exam.
Eligibility means a child currently in 6th grade primary in Canton Zurich, with a birth date after 15 July 2012 (for entry in 2027/28), registered by the parents by 10 February 2027. There’s no specific prior-grade threshold to register.
After six years, the Langgymnasium leads to the federally recognised Swiss Matura, which grants automatic admission to any Swiss university. Public Kantonsschulen are tuition-free — only material and excursion costs apply.
Exam-free admission (Prüfungsfreie Aufnahme)
A child who has already passed the admissions process for a public Langgymnasium in another canton can register exam-free in Zurich. The ZAP is waived in that case, and the receiving Zurich school accepts the other canton’s admission decision.
What’s tested
The Langgymnasium ZAP is a written exam in German and Mathematics. There are no oral parts at the public Kantonsschulen. Everything happens in a single morning.
| Part | Duration | Weight in the exam grade |
|---|---|---|
| Language analysis and reading comprehension (German) | 45 minutes | 1/4 |
| Mathematics | 60 minutes | 1/2 |
| Essay (German) | 60 minutes | 1/4 |
The language analysis covers grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. The essay asks the child to write their own text on a given topic. The mathematics paper covers arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.
One thing worth noting: the mathematics paper counts twice as much as each individual German part. Across the whole exam, German and Mathematics end up contributing equally to the exam grade.
Allowed materials
Calculators are not allowed in the mathematics paper. The only permitted tools are a set square (Geodreieck), a compass, pencil, and eraser — and the last two only for geometry questions. For German, a dictionary may be used: either Duden Volume 1, or whichever dictionary the child used at primary school.
The 50/50 rule: how the pass mark gets calculated
For children currently in a public 6th-grade primary class in Canton Zurich, the final mark is built from two equally weighted halves. One half is the Vorleistungsnote, the average of the German and Mathematics grades from the last semester of 6th grade primary. The other half is the exam result, the average across the two exam subjects.
Under this rule, a child passes if the combined average is at least 4.75.
A worked example
| Component | Mark |
|---|---|
| Vorleistungsnote (German + Maths in 6th grade primary) | 5.0 |
| Exam average | 4.5 |
| Final mark | (5.0 + 4.5) / 2 = 4.75 ✅ pass |
Two consequences are easy to underestimate:
- Solid school grades are a buffer. A child going in with 5.5 in their school marks can score a 4.0 on the exam and still pass.
- The exam alone doesn’t decide. A good exam day rarely rescues a weak semester. A bad exam day rarely costs a strong one.
That’s why the last semester before the ZAP matters almost as much as the prep itself.
Special case: children from private primary schools or outside the canton
The Vorleistungsnote only counts if the child is enrolled in a public 6th-grade primary class in Canton Zurich at the time of registration. For everyone else — children from private primary schools, from other cantons, or from abroad — the Vorleistungsnote does not count.
For those children, the final mark equals the exam result alone. The pass threshold then is an exam grade of at least 4.5. The bar is lower because there’s no school-grade half to balance the exam half.
In practice this means a child coming from a private primary school depends 100 percent on the exam day.
Which schools require the ZAP for the Langgymnasium
In Canton Zurich, seven public Kantonsschulen offer a Langgymnasium:
- Kantonsschule Freudenberg (KFR)
- Kantonsschule Hohe Promenade (KSHP)
- Kantonsschule Limmattal in Urdorf (KSL)
- Literargymnasium Rämibühl (LG)
- Realgymnasium Rämibühl (RG)
- Kantonsschule Wiedikon (KWI)
- Kantonsschule Zürich Nord (KZN)
The remaining Zurich Kantonsschulen (Stadelhofen, Enge, Hottingen, MNG Rämibühl, Liceo Artistico) only run a Kurzgymnasium and admit students after 2nd or 3rd Sekundarschule.
Locations, profiles, and Schwerpunktfächer are in the School Explorer.
School choice and assignment
At registration you list a first and second choice. Zurich’s middle schools operate on freie Schulwahl (free school choice) in principle. If a school is over-subscribed, the canton may reassign students before or after the ZAP — so the final school placement is not guaranteed. In most cases families do receive their first choice.
Private gymnasiums: their own admissions, one important distinction
Private gymnasiums run their own admissions for their Langgymnasium. The exam often falls on the same day as the cantonal ZAP, but with their own questions, their own deadlines, and sometimes additional oral interviews.
Examples in Zurich:
- Freies Gymnasium Zürich (FGZ) with a registration deadline in February 2027 and the written exam in April 2027; orals follow shortly after
- Freie Katholische Schulen Zürich (FKSZ) with the same exam day as the cantonal ZAP and optional orals for borderline cases
Hausmatura or Schweizerische Maturitätsprüfung
When comparing private gymnasiums, one practical question deserves a closer look. Both paths lead to a federally recognised Matura with automatic admission to any Swiss university — the difference is where the exam is taken and who sets it.
Schools with Hausmatura. The school holds federal recognition as a Maturitätsschule and is authorised to administer the Matura exam on its own premises. Questions are set by the school’s own teaching staff, the exam runs on campus, and graders are school examiners (often with cantonal co-examiners). Students sit the exam in a familiar environment, the level is calibrated to what the school teaches, and pass rates tend to be high.
Schools without Hausmatura. The school prepares students for the Schweizerische Maturitätsprüfung, the federal Matura exam organised by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SBFI). This exam is held centrally — in German-speaking Switzerland typically in Bern and Basel — and is administered by a federal Matura commission. Questions come from outside the school, examiners aren’t the student’s own teachers, and pass rates are noticeably lower than for Hausmatura. Students who pass receive the same Matura diploma with the same rights.
For families choosing a private gymnasium, “with or without Hausmatura” is one of the most important practical decision criteria. It doesn’t affect what the diploma is worth, but it does affect day-to-day exam pressure, the load in the final year, and the realistic odds of passing.
Exact dates, profiles, and Matura paths for each private gymnasium are on the school profile pages.
Realistic preparation
A few points consistently make the biggest difference, drawing on what families in Zurich report and what published statistics show.
Six to nine months of structured practice is enough for most children. A year of two hours every day usually drains motivation before it counts. Four weeks before the exam is rarely enough to master the typical question types.
Don’t neglect the Vorleistungsnote. Because of the 50/50 rule, every grade improvement during the school semester is exam-relevant. A 4.5 in an exam subject is hard to claw back in the last semester, and it costs real points later.
Practise with original past exams. The ZAP question style is specific. The canton publishes past exams free on zh.ch. Most prep providers also work with this material, often with their own additional sets.
Take the essay and reading comprehension seriously. Together they make up about half the German mark, and they’re harder to “memorise” than maths. Months of guided writing beats a one-week sports-holiday crash course.
Mock exams under real conditions. At least two or three full run-throughs, at the same time of day and in full length, build the routine that’s missing on exam day.
Prep providers in Zurich
Zurich has a large choice of ZAP prep providers, from group classes of five to eight children to one-on-one tutoring, from half-year courses to intensive holiday camps.
Prices roughly range from CHF 1,500 to CHF 4,000 per child. Some providers publish success rates, with advertised pass rates between 80 and 93 percent for individual providers. These numbers are hard to compare directly because the baseline level of admitted students differs significantly from one provider to the next.
The School Explorer has the active Zurich providers, including LearningCulture, Lern-Forum, Gymivorbereitung Zürich, Nachhilfe Akademie, Schlaumacher, and Edufox, with formats, group sizes, locations, and pricing.
Frequently asked
What if my child doesn’t pass the ZAP? There’s no second attempt the same year. The child enters 1st-year Sekundarschule in August. From there, they can later try the Kurzgymnasium ZAP (after 2nd or 3rd Sek) or apply to a private gymnasium with its own admissions.
What if my child is sick on exam day? Notify the school administration immediately and submit a medical certificate within three days. The child is then invited to the Nachprüfung (make-up exam). Anyone who shows up and sits the exam is considered fit to take it — a doctor’s note submitted afterwards will not be accepted.
Does the Probezeit at the Gymnasium matter? Yes. The first six months at the Langgymnasium count as Probezeit. A child who falls below the standard at the end of the first semester transfers to the public Sekundarschule, typically into 1st-year Sek A. Most admitted students do clear the Probezeit. An exact cantonal rate isn’t published regularly.
Can we resit the same exam? Not the same year. After failing the Langgymnasium ZAP, a child can later sit the Kurzgymnasium ZAP from Sekundarschule (after 2nd or 3rd Sek).
How do the Langgymnasien differ from each other? At the core, all seven public schools follow the same curriculum and award the same Matura. Differences come from profile offerings (e.g. Schwerpunktfächer such as Latin, Italian, Economics, Visual Arts), school culture, and location.
Bottom line
The ZAP for the Langgymnasium is demanding, but it isn’t a lottery. Parents who understand the 50/50 rule, take the Vorleistungsnote seriously, and prepare with structure have realistic odds.
The Schulpfad Pathway Map gives you the full picture of every route through Zurich’s school system, including dates, profiles, and a comparison of the schools that may fit your child.
Sources: zh.ch/zap (Cantonal Office of Education), annual reports of the Zurich Kantonsschulen, Schulpfad’s own research. As of: April 2026. Updated when the canton publishes new dates or regulations.