A Warm Welcome to Stiftsschule Engelberg
We are a boarding school for girls and boys, we offer secondary school, short and long-term grammar school. Our students live with us during the week and are welcome to stay over the weekend.
Secondary school boarding takes place at the so-called Integrative Orientation School (IOS), which is run by the Municipality of Engelberg. It prepares students for an apprenticeship, for vocational school or for the four-year Gymnasium. We are deeply committed to providing our boarders with the individual support and guidance they need to thrive both academically and personally.
Gymnasium Carefully designed to meet the rigorous standards of both the Swiss Matura and the International Baccalaureate (IB), our programme leads to the award of both the bilingual Swiss Matura certificate and the IB Diploma, empowering our students to pursue their aspirations wherever they may lead.
Benedictine Tradition We place particular emphasis on a meaningful boarding experience – one that fosters a strong sense of community and inspires a lasting commitment to the service of others.
Our school and boarding school communities are intentionally small, allowing us to give each student the individual attention they need to flourish. There is no formal entrance examination; admission is based on prior academic performance and the outcome of a personal interview. We would be delighted to hear from you.
With best regards,
Tobias Barmettler, Headmaster, and the teaching staff
For a more intimate glimpse into daily life at our school, we warmly invite you to hear directly from our students and parents as they share their experiences within our community.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here you will find answers to the questions we are most often asked. Should you require further details, we warmly invite you to telephone us – we are always delighted to assist.
Whether you wish to learn about admission requirements, our boarding experience, daily life at school, or our tailored programmes and provisions, you will find the essential information about Stiftsschule Engelberg here.
The annual fee for the Lower Form of the Gymnasium or the Secondary School (the Integrative Orientation School) is CHF 43,700. This includes tuition, day-to-day student care, and full board. A supplement of CHF 3,150 applies for a single room. In the Upper Form of the Gymnasium, the annual fee is CHF 47,200, which includes tuition, day-to-day student care, and full board in a single room.
Additional costs apply for music tuition and supplementary lessons, as well as for examination fees, learning materials, and excursions.
Recognized students from the Cantons of Obwalden and Nidwalden at Gymnasium level may, under certain conditions, be eligible for a reduction in fees.
Indeed, they are. The distinguished Gertrud von Speyr Foundation generously provides financial assistance to support parents or guardians for whom boarding fees exceed their means.
Additionally, the Foundation awards merit-based scholarships to students who achieve a minimum average grade of 5.2 in their report relevant to promotion, contributing CHF 3,000 towards the following year’s fees.
(NB: In Switzerland grades are awarded on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being the highest mark).
As part of the 900th anniversary celebrations for Engelberg Abbey, the Gertrud von Speyer Foundation awarded five full scholarships in 2020.
The Benedictus Foundation of the Monastery of Engelberg provides scholarships in recognition of exceptional achievement.
The "Association of Friends and Alumni of the Institut La Salle Neuchâtel" awards a scholarship of up to CHF 8,000 each year. Preference is given to a non-German-speaking student from another part of the country.
Cantonal authorities also provide scholarships and educational loans to support students’ studies.
Students live at the boarding school from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon. However, students can also spend the weekend at the Stiftsschule or at the boarding school. This option is often used, for example for skiing, tutoring or other learning. For weekend stays, there is a surcharge for accommodation, meals and supervision, either as a lump sum per year or per weekend.
There have been no dormitories since 2014. Students live and sleep in twin rooms and, from the upper secondary school onwards, in single rooms. If available, single rooms can be booked in the lower secondary school. However, we recommend the double room at the beginning; being in pairs makes it easier to start, learn and practise social skills. Girls and boys live and sleep in separate wings.
Our boarding rooms are designed with modern comfort in mind, each furnished with a wardrobe, a spacious desk, shelving, and a large window with inspiring views of the surrounding mountains. Each room is equipped with its own washbasin, while showers and WCs are conveniently located on each floor.
Students are entrusted with the care and tidiness of their rooms, fostering independence and pride in their surroundings. At the end of each week, a brief review offers encouragement and support as students continue to grow in responsibility and pride in their spaces.
Sick students are cared for by our nursing specialist. There are three general practices in Engelberg. The nearest hospital is the Stans Cantonal Hospital. It can be reached in half an hour, the Lucerne Cantonal Hospital in an hour.
Teaching at Stiftsschule Engelberg is entrusted almost entirely to lay staff. Of our twenty teachers, seven are women. Pastoral Care is guided by a dedicated team which includes the Abbot of the Monastery of Engelberg, Abbot Christian Meyer OSB, who also teaches Religious Education in the Lower Form of the Gymnasium. Our teaching staff collaborate closely across disciplines, forming a well-established team in which changes of staff are exceedingly rare.
The Engelberg Stiftsschule was actually founded by the Benedictine monastery of Engelberg. This meant that only monks taught. Since the 1970s, more and more secular teachers and soon also female teachers have been at the blackboard and now also at the whiteboard.
The classes are small. In the lower grammar school there are sometimes only 12 students, in the upper grammar school up to around 23. These sizes have advantages: Teachers soon develop a good sense of the strengths of individual students and support them accordingly. The class spirit is strengthened by joint class and study trips, special weeks and vacation days.