If you have not hired from an Informatikmittelschule before, this is the short version of what the qualification is, how the four years are split, and what taking on a Praktikant actually involves.
/ The programme
The Informatikmittelschule Bern is part of bwd Bern and trains, on behalf of the Kanton Bern, for the Informatiker/in EFZ qualification in the Applikationsentwicklung specialisation — including the Berufsmaturität Wirtschaft.
It runs as a schulisch organisierte Grundbildung (SOG): the school-organised variant of an apprenticeship. The classroom and module work happens first and in full, and the company year comes at the end. The certificate at the end is the ordinary federal EFZ — the same one a company-based apprentice earns, reached in a different order.
/ Structure
2024 – 2027
School, modules and Berufsmaturität
Full-time at the IMS in Bern. All Berufsfachschule modules and the überbetriebliche Kurse (üK) are completed here, alongside the Berufsmaturität Wirtschaft. By the end of this school year every module and the BM are finished.
from 1 August 2027
Full-time Praktikum
Five days a week in a host company for the whole year. The school part is already done, so this year is about real project work and being part of a professional team rather than splitting time with classes.
during year 4
IPA — Individuelle Praktische Arbeit
The final practical assignment, carried out and assessed inside the host company. Passing it completes the Informatiker EFZ Applikationsentwicklung qualification. Many IPA candidates sign their first employment contract with the company that hosted them.
/ For a host company
A Praktikant in this programme arrives with the theory finished, not alongside it.
No school days
Five days a week in the company for the full year — no day release, no block courses to plan around.
Modules done
Every Berufsfachschule and üK module is completed before the Praktikum starts, including the Berufsmaturität.
One clear deliverable
The IPA is scoped and assessed within the company, so the year has a concrete result rather than an open-ended placement.
A hiring look
A year is long enough to know whether someone fits the team before either side commits to anything permanent.
/ Where I am
I am Mykyta Pantelei, in the third year at the IMS in class IM24A. All modules and the Berufsmaturität finish this school year, and I am looking for the full-time Praktikum starting 1 August 2027.
/ Verify
You do not have to take any of this from me. The IMS school leadership will talk through the conditions, the contract and what the company commits to.
School
Michael Peter — Schulleiter IMS
bwd Bern, Informatikmittelschule · Papiermühlestrasse 65, 3014 Bern