In order to successfully complete your academic exchange, it is essential that you are able to follow courses in the language in which they will be taught. In addition, most partner universities require you to present a language certificate, in which case passing a language test is compulsory before you can go on exchange.
You will find specific information about language requirements on the partner universities’ exchange sites, which you can find on our website under Remarks. Please note that partner universities may change their language requirements for exchanges from one year to the next.
In any case, we strongly recommend that you take a language test to ensure that you have a sufficient level of language to follow the courses at your host university.
Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
The students selected for an exchange in the USA, Canada, Australia or the United Kingdom must pass a language test according to the requirement of the host university. The students organise the test on their own, at their own cost and at the latest before the deadline below.
If you require special accommodations to take a language test (TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge, etc.), please note that this process is complex and may take a considerable amount of time. We therefore strongly recommend that you plan ahead and begin the necessary steps as early as possible in order to take one of these tests within the required timeframe.
| Universities in the USA | Tests accepted and level required by the host university | Deadline to pass the test |
| Carnegie Mellon University | see the website of the partner | March 15 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta | see the website of the partner | March 1 |
| Johns Hopkins University | see the website of the partner | February 28 |
| Princeton University | select tab Apply Now on the website of the partner. Duolingo score min 120 accepted | March 15 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | see the website of the partner | February 10 |
| University of California, San Diego | see the website of the partner | January 31 |
| University of Washington, Seattle | see the website of the partner | February 15 |
| Universities in Australia | Tests accepted and level required by the host university | Deadline to pass the test |
| Monash University | see the website of the partner. Accepts Swiss Matura no older than 5 years at the time of the exchange, with minimum grade 5 in English | February 28 |
| University of New South Wales | see the website of the partner. Accepts Swiss Matura no older than 10 years at the time of the exchange, with minimum grade 5 in English | February 28 |
| University of Sydney | see the website of the partner | February 28 |
| Universities in Canada | Tests accepted and level required by the host university | Deadline to pass the test |
| McGill University | see the website of the partner | February 28 |
| University of Toronto | see the website of the partner | February 28 |
| University of British Columbia | see the website of the partner | February 28 |
| University of Waterloo | see the website of the partner | February 28 |
| Polytechnique de Montréal | no English test required, courses in French | – |
| Université de Montréal | no English test required, courses in French | – |
| Université Laval, Québec | no English test required, courses in French | – |
| Universities in United Kingdom | Tests accepted and level required by the host university | Deadline to pass the test |
|---|---|---|
| University of Edinburgh | see this website as well as the partner’s website | according to the partner’s application deadline |
| Imperial College London | see the website of the partner | according to the partner’s application deadline |
| University of Nottingham | see the website of the partner | according to the partner’s application deadline |
Exchange to all other destinations
The language tests for German, English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese are organized by the Language Centre.
The tests last one hour and will take place in person at the Language Center on following dates:
- Thursday 5th March 2026 : 6-8pm
- Friday 6th March 2026 : 2-8pm
- Saturday 7th March 2026 : 13-17pm
- Thursday 12th March 2026 : 6-8pm
- Friday 13 March 2026 : 2-8pm
- Saturday 14 March 2026 : 13-17pm
The registration for the test is done in the student portal in IS-Academia (tab Language Center) between 25th February and and 4th March 2026 at midnight.
Certain universities do not require any language certificate. Please verify this information on the university’s webpage.
| Australia | See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom |
| Austria | German if courses in the study plan are in German only English if courses in the study plan are in English only German and English if courses in the study plan are in both languages |
| Belgium | English for the exchange at UC Louvain. No test for other universities. |
| Brazil | Portuguese |
| Canada | See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom |
| Chile | Spanish |
| China | English |
| Czech Republic | English |
| Denmark | English |
| Finland | English |
| France | English if courses from the study plan are in English |
| Germany | German if courses in the study plan are in German only English if courses in the study plan are in English only German and English if courses in the study plan are in both languages For TU Berlin: German in any case. English if all courses in English |
| India | English |
| Italy | Italian. Politecnico di Torino : Italian if courses in the study plan are in Italian only. English if courses in the study plan are in English only. Italian and English is courses in both languages. |
| Ireland | English |
| Israel | English |
| Japan | English test at EPFL + certificate of Japanese level (eg. course attestation) |
| Mexico | Spanish and English |
| Norway | English |
| Netherlands | English. TU Eindhoven: TOEFL, IELTS or CAE required for non-Europeans |
| Portugal | Portuguese. Except Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) : English if courses at master level and/or Portuguese if courses at bachelor level |
| Singapore | English |
| South Korea | English |
| Spain | Spanish |
| Sweden | English |
| Switzerland | ETHZ: language of the majority of courses (German or English) Mendrisio: Italian |
| United Kingdom | See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom |
| United States of America | See above table under paragraph Exchange to the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom |
| Turkey | English |