Many cantons have special classes or schools for particularly gifted young people, especially in the field of sport, and less commonly in the areas of art and music, etc. These classes specifically promote the highly gifted in that particular field, and enable young people to cope with the large amount of training or practice required by making regular lessons more flexible and ultimately leading to a recognised school-leaving or professional qualification. 

Since not all cantons operate their own schools for the gifted and talented, and such schools often specialise in a few sports, the Intercantonal Agreement on Schools with Specially Structured Programmes for the Highly Gifted was concluded in 2003 (Interkantonale Vereinbarung für Schulen mit spezifisch-strukturierten Angeboten für Hochbegabte). The Agreement applies to the lower and upper secondary levels. It regulates intercantonal access, the status of the pupils, and the amount of compensation that the cantons of residence of the pupils have to pay to the school maintaining bodies.