If you want a baking school in Switzerland that teaches in English, BHMS in Lucerne runs professional pastry, chocolate and bakery training: a 10-week certificate for CHF 23'025 (about US$27,900) or a one-year diploma for CHF 40'200 (about US$48,600) that includes six months of paid work in a Swiss kitchen.
One thing to be clear about up front: this is career training, not a holiday baking class. You'll wear whites, work production hours at your own bench and be graded. If that's what you're looking for, here's how it works, what it costs at the October 2026 rate, and who it suits.
What you learn at baking school
The Diploma year logs 330 kitchen hours across six practical labs, with one chef instructor for every ten students:
- Pastry and Bakery Foundations: doughs, batters, creams, meringues, the basic ratios everything else rests on.
- Boulangerie and Viennoiserie: bread, fermentation, and laminated doughs such as croissants.
- Classic Patisserie: the French repertoire of tarts, choux and filled pastries.
- Traditional European Cakes: sponges, layered and regional cakes.
- Chocolate Work Foundations: tempering, moulding and your first bonbons.
- Culinary Foundations: enough savoury kitchen to work in any brigade.
Next to the labs run academic modules a professional kitchen expects: food safety, nutrition, study skills, German or French, and career development. The full module list is on the Diploma in Pastry, Chocolate and Bakery page.
Which baking course fits you? 10 weeks, one year or a degree
| Programme | Length | Kitchen hours | Paid internship | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate in Pastry, Chocolate and Bakery | 10 weeks | 180 | No | CHF 23'025 (≈ US$27,900) |
| Diploma in Pastry, Chocolate and Bakery | 1 year | 330 | 6 months | CHF 40'200 (≈ US$48,600) |
| Higher Diploma | 1 year | 300 | 6 months | CHF 41'200 (≈ US$49,900) |
| BA in Culinary Arts and Patisserie | 3 years in total | 630 in Years 1–2 | 3 × 6 months | CHF 123'600 for all three years |
The 10-week Certificate suits a gap year, a career change you want to test, or a working baker who never had structured pastry training. The Diploma is the one to choose if you want a job in a professional bakery or pastry kitchen: the six months of paid work are what employers look at. The bachelor adds two more years and ends with a degree awarded jointly with Robert Gordon University in the UK.
What's included in the fee
BHMS quotes all-inclusive prices. For the Diploma year, CHF 40'200 covers tuition, a shared room on the campus, meals, mandatory health insurance, the residence permit, the internship placement service, an airport pick-up when you arrive, and the uniform and knife kit. Flights and personal spending are on top. Every line is on the pastry programme fees page.
Is the internship really paid?
Yes. Each year-long programme pairs one taught semester with a six-month internship in Switzerland or abroad, assessed by the employer. Interns in Switzerland earn at least CHF 2'390 a month gross (about US$2,900) under the national hospitality labour agreement. Room, board and social security come off that; BHMS puts what you keep at around CHF 1'500 a month in the countryside with housing and meals provided, or CHF 800–1,000 in a big city without them.
The 10-week certificates don't include an internship. That's the main reason to pick the Diploma if a job is the goal.
Entry requirements and intakes
- Minimum age 17 and a high school diploma or equivalent.
- English at about IELTS 5.0 level. A 10-week Preparatory English Programme is available if you're not there yet.
- No baking experience needed for the Certificate or the Diploma.
- Next intakes: November 2026 · February 2027 · August 2027.
If you need a visa, allow up to 12 weeks for it and apply four to six months ahead. You can start on the application page.
Baking, pastry or culinary school?
A baking and pastry programme teaches bread, viennoiserie, cakes, desserts and chocolate. A culinary programme teaches the savoury kitchen. They are separate tracks at BHMS: if you'd rather cook than bake, the culinary arts programmes are on culinarystudyabroad.com. The school's own overview of the pastry track is on bhms.ch.
Still deciding? Read how to become a pastry chef for the career side, or our guide to Swiss chocolate if chocolate is what pulled you here.