Nearly 150 years, one family: inside Switzerland’s most personal boarding school

Nestled in the heart of Lausanne, just a short flight from Nice, Brillantmont International School has spent nearly 150 years quietly doing what large institutions rarely can: knowing every student by name.

A family affair, five generations deep

There are schools with a history, and then there is Brillantmont. Founded in 1882 and run continuously by the same family across five generations, it stands today as the oldest boarding school in Switzerland to remain in its founding family’s hands – a distinction that has become rarer with each passing decade as institutions across the country are absorbed by private equity groups and educational chains.

Mrs Sarah Frei, Head of Admissions and External Relations, who has been at the school for 33 years after meeting her husband there, knows this continuity from the inside. “Family is at every level of Brillantmont,” she explains. “Our head of boarding has been here over ten years. We have teachers who’ve been here over fifteen. It creates a real sense of community that our students genuinely appreciate. They feel that somebody is looking out for them.” That sense of belonging is no accident. With 80 to 90 boarding students, the school operates at a scale that makes individual attention not a promise, but a structural reality.

The connection runs deep enough to span generations of students, too. Families from Argentina have sent grandmothers, daughters and grandchildren to Brillantmont — a dynasty of loyalty that speaks more compellingly than any brochure.

Academic paths built around the individual

Brillantmont offers two distinct academic routes: the rigorous British A Levels and the American High School Diploma, both internationally recognised, and both capable of opening doors at leading universities worldwide, from the Russell Group in the UK to institutions across the United States and beyond.

The choice between them is guided carefully by the school. The A Levels demand strong examination performance under pressure; the High School Diploma rewards consistent effort throughout the year, with no single high-stakes test determining the outcome. “If a student finds exam pressure very difficult, they are probably better suited to the high school diploma,” Mrs Frei notes. “What we want to do is develop each child’s individual potential, and that will vary from one child to another.” Roughly 60% of students graduate with A Levels; 40% with the High School Diploma, a balance that reflects the school’s refusal to impose a single academic mould.

Lausanne: the city as classroom

Location is among Brillantmont’s most distinctive advantages. As the only boarding school situated directly in the centre of Lausanne, students are within five minutes of cafés, cinemas, museums and the lakefront promenade of Lake Léman, and within an hour of the ski slopes. “We go where the snow is,” Mrs Frei says. “We have weekends in Zermatt, in Saas-Fee. That flexibility is very different from a mountain school limited to one resort.”

Inside the city, students access ballet academies, football leagues, rowing clubs and the opera. One student last year maintained twelve hours of weekly dance training for a performance in Rome while completing her academic studies a schedule the school accommodated without hesitation. Freedom, independence and cultural richness are woven into daily life at a level that few campuses anywhere can match.

Closer to Monaco than you might think

For families on the French Riviera, proximity matters and Brillantmont is closer than most realise. Geneva Airport is just 45 minutes from the school, and with its excellent connections to Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, the journey from Monaco is remarkably straightforward. In an emergency, a parent could reach the school by car.

“The proximity is reassuring, particularly for parents of younger children,” Mrs Frei says. “Maybe it’s their first time away from home. The physical distance matters psychologically.” The French-speaking environment also makes Brillantmont a natural extension of life in Monaco, with all students learning French throughout their studies, an invaluable asset for families newly arrived on the Riviera and eager to immerse their children in the language.

Summers of discovery: languages, art, sport and artificial intelligence

Each summer, Brillantmont welcomes students aged 10 to 16 from around the world for a programme that blends language learning, sport, art and exploration of Switzerland’s most extraordinary landscapes. New this season: the Tech Academy, a morning programme dedicated to coding, robotics and artificial intelligence developed in collaboration with a former student who now runs her own company in partnership with EPFL, Lausanne’s world-renowned polytechnic institute.

The juxtaposition of nearly 150 years of heritage with AI workshops is, Mrs Frei insists, entirely consistent. “The world is moving fast. We want our students to be well prepared to cope in it, but without losing their critical thinking. The two go together.” The Tech Academy is nearly full for this summer’s session.

No student overlooked

At the heart of everything Brillantmont offers is a simple but powerful commitment. “Their child is not just a number,” Mrs Frei says simply. “In a bigger school, the students who put themselves forward are often the confident ones. Here, we know each and every student, so nobody gets overlooked. We will go to a student and say: we think this would be really good for you. Let’s build your confidence. Let’s do it together.”

In a principality where school places are increasingly scarce and waiting lists grow longer each year, the option of a boutique Swiss boarding school – this close, this established, and this personal deserves serious consideration.

Practical information

Brillantmont representatives visit Monaco regularly and welcome the opportunity to meet families in person. Private appointments and Zoom consultations can also be arranged at any time.

Address: Avenue Secretan 16, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland

Website: www.brillantmont.ch

Enquiries: admissions@brillantmont.ch