Brillantmont Winter Course in Lausanne, Switzerland

The Brillantmont Winter Course offers a rare kind of winter programme: instead of a purpose-built holiday camp, visiting students step into the daily life of a long-established international boarding school in the centre of Lausanne, in French-speaking Switzerland. The school overlooks Lake Léman, sits within easy reach of Geneva airport, and welcomes a deliberately small winter group - no more than ten visiting students - so each of them is fully integrated into classes, clubs and boarding life alongside the school's own students from many different countries. The academic side is real school, not holiday tuition. Winter Course students aged thirteen to fifteen, usually in Grades 8 and 9, attend regular high-school lessons with their Brillantmont classmates, take intensive French, and study other high-school subjects, with the option of additional classes. Lausanne is in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so the language practised in the classroom continues in the city outside it. After school, students can join in-house clubs such as basketball, football, cooking or the school band, and take part in school events and cultural excursions, from the Olympic Museum to the Chaplin Museum. Weekends belong to the mountains. The ski and winter sports programme takes students on whole-day Sunday ski and snowboard trips to well-known Swiss resorts - depending on snow conditions, destinations include Verbier, Portes du Soleil, Villars, Morgins and Gstaad - plus a full weekend of skiing in the world-famous resort of Zermatt. Students who choose the longer option also enjoy Ski Week, a residential week of skiing from Saturday to Saturday in a leading Swiss resort. Ski and snowboard equipment and lift passes are included, though students may bring their own gear. The programme is residential and all-inclusive. Full board and accommodation on campus, classes, activities and excursions, in-house clubs and materials, all ski trips, airport transfers on the designated arrival and departure days, accident and health insurance and VAT are covered by the fee, and the school states there are no hidden extras. An admission deposit, held against pocket money and personal expenses and refunded after the course, completes the arrangements. The winter season runs from early January to mid-February, with a four-week option and a longer stay that adds two further weeks including Ski Week. Places are limited and the school recommends applying early. Availability, dates and prices may change quickly; please confirm details directly with the camp provider before making travel arrangements.