Official 2025 Graduation Ceremony

Afternoon of Saturday 24 May 2025

Organised and sponsored by ISL

Swiss Tech Convention Centre

Rue Louis Favre 2, 1024 Ecublens

(EPFL campus)

Official Graduation Ceremony 14:00 - 18:00

13:15 Doors open for families (please arrive no later than 13:45)

13:45 Final call to take seats

14:00 Official Graduation Ceremony starts and will include speeches, musical performances and each student receives their official high school diploma

17:00 Cocktail Reception* & Photos (The graduation photographer will be onsite for families wishing to have group portraits taken. There is no need to prebook.)

18:00 All guests and graduates must have vacated SwissTech

*Directly following the ceremony there will be a cocktail reception organised by ISL at SwissTech. This will last for approximately one hour before transitioning to the evening celebration at Hotel Royal Savoy in Lausanne that starts at 19:00. As the ceremony and cocktail reception at SwissTech are school activities, siblings who are currently ISL students should not consume alcohol.

Student Rehearsals for Graduation Day

ISL will organise two rehearsals to ensure students feel confident and fully prepared for the Official Graduation Ceremony, and everything runs smoothly on their big day.

🎓 Friday 23 May 2025 at ISL

On Friday 23 May at 9:00, ALL students must attend the graduation rehearsal at ISL which will take approx 2 hours.

Please note that this takes place at ISL and not at EPFL SwissTech.

Following the rehearsal, students will also be given important information regarding the migration of their school accounts, and have access to the academic counsellors for transition and university information.

🎓 Saturday 24 May 2025 at SwissTech

9:30 Selected student speakers and student musicians sound check

10:30 All graduates arrive at SwissTech and leave their belongings in the dressing rooms

11:00 Final dress rehearsal (Students need to arrive in their graduation clothing and wear their graduation shoes for the rehearsal.)

12:15 Lunch break for students. No lunch provided. There are two supermarkets nearby.

14:00 Official Graduation Ceremony starts

SwissTech Seating Arrangements

Seating in the convention center will be allocated in advance by a random draw to ensure fairness, with a parent representative present to observe. SwissTech’s design guarantees fantastic views from every seat!

Parents can reserve the number of seats needed using this form which will remain open through Wednesday 30 April 2025. Families can make changes to their reservation by revising their original form or submitting a new form. The most recently submitted data will be used to allocate each family their selected number of seats by random drawing.

Dress Code - What To Wear?

A formal dress code will be implemented for graduates. This dress code aligns with the School’s values of celebrating individuality, while maintaining the event’s formal nature. Graduates are encouraged to express their personal style within the framework of appropriate formal attire, ensuring a dignified and memorable celebration for all.

Student Dress Code for Official Graduation Ceremony:

A suit, dress, pantsuit or traditional formal or graduation clothing from home culture
Students may choose any colour
Ties are optional
Smart shoes that are easy to walk up and down stairs. Sneakers are also accepted, as long as they are clean and smart! 😉

There is no dress code for guests, however attendees generally choose to follow the student dress code.

Elizabeth Fransdonk - Official Ceremony Photographer

Photos

All families will be charged 55 CHF in the spring term fees, which will be returned as a voucher for the purchase of graduation photographs.

Wednesday 21 May 2025 and Thursday 22 May 2025 - Individual Portraits of Graduates

All graduates will have individual portraits taken by the graduation photographer, Elizabeth Fransdonk. Students are assigned a scheduled time. For emergencies or urgent needs to reschedule, please contact Ms Gifford.

Saturday 24 May - Photos during the Ceremony

Elizabeth and her team of photographers will take photographs of students on stage at the ceremony and family portraits after the ceremony. No pre-booking is needed.

Parking & Metro

The SwissTech convention centre is located on the EPFL university campus close to Lausanne and is easily accessible by both public transport and car. You can find all details here.

The M1 metro links directly to the SwissTech Convention Center (STCC) (EPFL stop) from the Renens train station or Lausanne Flon. It is approx a 10 minute walk from the metro to SwissTech. If you are attending the evening Gala party at the Hotel Royal Savoy, it's about 25 minutes by public transport taking the M1 to Lausanne Flon, and then the M2 (direction Ouchy) to Délices.

The SwissTech Convention Center (STCC) is 2 minutes from the highway exit “Lausanne Sud, UNIL-EPFL”. There are 400 public parking spaces approx 5 minutes walking from the STCC (see map) - the Parking EPFL Campus (1) has 150 places, Parking Arcades/SwissTech Village (2) has 80 spaces, and the Parking P+R Bourdonnette (3) has 250 places.

LiveStream Available!

For those who are unable to attend in person, SwissTech will livestream the graduation event. Friends and family can join virtually around the world by visiting the ISL YouTube channel.

Questions or Comments?

Contact Sarah Gifford at sgifford@isl.ch with any questions about the official ceremony.

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