We have all made this gesture: scrolling a school's home page to the bottom, and coming across a row of logos. A crest, a three-letter acronym, a cantonal coat of arms. It is reassuring. But if you were asked what each of these logos guarantees exactly, the answer would probably be vaguer.
Nothing abnormal about that: the vocabulary is misleading, and the logos look alike. Yet behind the same row of icons can hide three statuses of very different natures, which structure this whole article: the cantonal authorisation to operate, the accreditation by an external evaluator, and the membership of an association. Programme logos (IB, Cambridge…) are added to them, but they fall under none of these three statuses: we will treat them separately, as a complement.
Good news: you do not need to become an expert in regulation to see clearly, nor to travel anywhere. We will unpack these three statuses together, then see where to check them, with three simple questions. Finally, we will give you the five practical tips to keep to hand for your next exchange with a school.
Three statuses, three promises
An analogy often helps us set things out with the families we support. Think of a car.
- Cantonal authorisation is the licence to drive. Without it, the school cannot legally operate in the canton. It is a foundation, not a distinction.
- Accreditation is the thorough technical inspection. An outside body comes to examine the vehicle against a published grid and returns a verdict.
- Membership is the card of an automobile club. It says you meet the club's entry conditions and that you share its rules. What it requires exactly depends on the club.
We can already hear you say: "So a membership is worth less than an accreditation?" That is not our point. The three can coexist in one school, and the three are honourable. They simply do not answer the same question, and that is exactly where the confusion is born.
Accreditation: an outside look
An accreditation presupposes a third-party evaluator. The school does not award itself the title: it submits to a process led by a body independent of it, against a framework that this body publishes.
The CIS (Council of International Schools) and the COBIS (Council of British International Schools) are two names you may come across on the sites of international schools in Switzerland. CIS describes its international accreditation as a peer evaluation, conducted against a framework of standards. COBIS, too, presents its own accreditation approach.
Two nuances are worth remembering.
An accreditation is not a title for life, but each body has its rules. COBIS, for example, organises its accreditation in cycles, with re-examinations. For CIS as for any other body, the duration and renewal schedule are to be checked with each; we prefer to invite you to do so rather than generalise.
Being linked to a body does not mean being accredited by it. This is the subtlest point, and the most important in this article. COBIS illustrates it well: a school can be a member on a compliance basis (that is, meeting membership conditions) without being accredited for all that. The logo, for its part, does not always make the difference. So the question to ask is very simple: "Are you members, or accredited?"
Membership: belonging to a network
A membership means the school is part of an association. In Switzerland, the FSEP-VSP, the Swiss Federation of Private Schools, is one example at national scale.
Belonging to an association is not nothing. It presupposes meeting entry conditions and accepting common rules. These conditions vary from one association to another. The FSEP-VSP, for example, states that it does not itself accredit schools: its members are certified either by a recognised quality system or by the federation's internal procedure.
A membership is therefore a useful signal, which may come with requirements specific to each association. It simply does not replace an accreditation, and an accreditation does not replace it either. Membership is not accreditation: holding on to that one sentence will spare you many misunderstandings.
A point of method, finally. A federation is authoritative on the list of its members and on its own criteria: it is the one to consult to confirm that a school belongs to it. The FSEP-VSP does indeed publish its list of member schools. On the other hand, it is not the right source to compare fees; that information is a matter for each school.
Cantonal authorisation: the legal foundation
In Switzerland, private education is a matter for the cantons. Each canton sets its own framework for a private establishment to open and operate.
Geneva offers a very legible illustration. On its official site, the State writes it plainly: to open and operate a private school, "you must obtain an authorisation". This requirement targets a private school active in compulsory schooling and/or training; for other cases, it is to be checked with the cantonal department. The competent service, the SASEP, is attached to the department of public education (DIP), and summary guides are made available.
Outside Geneva, the reflex is the same: address the competent cantonal department of the canton where the school is located.
What to remember? A cantonal authorisation attests that a school may legally operate in the canton. It is indispensable. But it is neither an international accreditation nor an educational label. It tells you nothing, on its own, about the quality of pastoral care, evening life at boarding school or support with onward study.
And for a day school? The method does not change: the three statuses are read the same way. It is the criteria that come afterwards that weigh differently, boarding life giving way to the daily commute and the link with the family.
For a neighbouring question, that of the diplomas awarded by Vaud private schools, you can read our article on the cantonal Matura at a Vaud private school.
And programme logos?
You may see, alongside the previous ones, the logo of a programme: International Baccalaureate, Cambridge International, etc. It falls under none of the three statuses described above, and it bears on the curriculum rather than on the establishment.
Our advice stays simple: ask the school which body carries the programme, and how to check it.
The three questions that are enough
You do not have to know everything. For each logo, three calmly asked questions do the work:
- Which of the three statuses applies? Cantonal authorisation, accreditation or membership (and, if it is a programme, which body carries it).
- Since when? And, for an accreditation, what is the date of the last evaluation and until when it holds, according to the body's own rules.
- Where can I check it? The exact name of the body and the page where it confirms it.
A school at ease with its statuses answers plainly and tells you itself where to check: that is a good sign. And if the answer stays evasive? Rest assured: it does not necessarily mean there is a problem. Simply follow up in writing, taking your questions one by one.
The five practical tips from MSH Advisory
- Take stock of the logos before the first exchange. From home, note each of them and classify it: cantonal authority, accreditation body, association, or programme. A few minutes are enough, and your questions will gain in precision.
- Ask your questions in writing. A clear email, with the three questions, spares you depending on an appointment and leaves you an answer you can reread. Ask for the exact status, word for word: "member" and "accredited" do not mean the same thing.
- Check at the source, from a distance. No need to travel: consult the site of the body concerned (list of members, accredited schools) or, for the authorisation to operate, the competent cantonal department. It is the one that is authoritative, not the school's home page.
- Keep a record of what you checked. For each school, note the answer obtained, the page consulted and its date of consultation. When the time comes to compare several establishments, you will have everything before you.
- Put the logos in their proper place. They are useful filters, not verdicts. They give you a starting point to check; they do not designate the school that will suit your child. For what comes next, our guide to choosing a boarding school in Switzerland takes up the criteria that really matter: supervision, curriculum, campus life, logistics.
In short: reading a row of logos, calmly
We have gone through together the three statuses that are easily confused: the cantonal authorisation, which lets a school operate; the accreditation, which presupposes a third party's evaluation against a published framework; the membership, which places it within a network. Programme logos, for their part, come as a complement. You now know how to read a row of logos, and above all where to check what it announces.
And if you would rather have an outside view do this sorting with you, school by school, our private educational advisory is there for that. Let's talk whenever you wish.
A good question, asked at the right moment, is worth all the brochures. Over to you.
Official sources (accessed 2026-10-02)
- COBIS, "Accreditation" page: https://www.cobis.org.uk/services/accreditation
- Council of International Schools (CIS), "International Accreditation": https://www.cois.org/for-schools/international-accreditation
- FSEP-VSP, Swiss Federation of Private Schools, "Quality assurance": https://www.swiss-schools.ch/vsp/dienstleistungen/qualitaetssicherung/
- FSEP-VSP, list of member schools: https://www.swiss-schools.ch/fuer-schueler-studierende-und-eltern/bildungsangebote/schulen/
- Republic and canton of Geneva, "Open and operate a private school": https://www.ge.ch/ouvrir-exploiter-ecole-privee
- Republic and canton of Geneva, "Open and operate a private school: general information and summary guides": https://www.ge.ch/ouvrir-exploiter-ecole-privee/renseignements-generaux-guides-recapitulatifs
Membership criteria, accreditation procedures and durations, and the conditions of cantonal authorisation are a matter for each body and each canton; they are to be confirmed directly with them.
