Marketing specialist
with Federal Certificate

To be admitted to the exam, candidates must hold a CFC (minimum of 3 years' initial vocational training), a diploma from a business school, a school of general education or a maturité certificate, and have at least two years' professional experience in marketing or sales. 

Holders of an AFP (2-year diploma) are also admitted, provided they have at least three years' relevant professional experience.

This course is aimed at any professional in French-speaking Switzerland who wishes to validate and structure your marketing skills by a federally-recognised certification.

It is particularly suitable for :

• Current employees in a marketing, communications, sales or PR function, wishing to progress to broader responsibilities
• Marketing or sales assistants holders of a MarKom certificate or equivalent who want to move up to the next level
• SME managers manage their own communications and marketing
• Professionals undergoing retraining towards careers in digital marketing and communications
• Federal examination candidates wanting structured support, in French, with trainers from the field

The Marketing Specialist is at the heart of interactions between customers, sales teams and the various intermediary players - advertising agencies, web agencies, communications agencies - and works in all sectors of the economy.

The federal examination for Marketing Specialists takes place at the following locations once a year, in the spring. It is organised by Suxxess, the umbrella organisation commissioned by SEFRI.

The official 2027 dates will be published by Suxxess in the summer of 2026. See also suxxess.org for all official information.

Cost of the exam : CHF 2,500 (2026 rate, subject to change)

This course can be fully customised (content, format, language). Contact us for a free quote.

The course is priced at CHF 12 900., excluding federal examination fees.

The good news is that the Confederation can reimburse up to 50 % of your training costs. Since 2018, the Confederation has reimbursed 50 % of the costs of courses preparing for a federal certificate, up to a maximum of CHF 9,500, provided that the candidate sits the federal examination after the course. Entitlement to the subsidy is independent of the examination result. 

In concrete terms, for a course costing CHF 12,900, you can receive a reimbursement of CHF 6 450.00, bringing your net investment to CHF 6 450.00.

Qualifying conditions:

• Attend a course on the SEFRI list of preparatory courses, pay the course fees yourself and be legally resident in Switzerland at the time of taking the exam.
• The grant application is submitted after passing the federal examination, by submitting invoices and proof of payment via the SEFRI online portal.

For more information on the federal grant:  here.

You should also bear in mind that the price of the exam is not included in the preparation. It depends on the examination centre, and costs around CHF 2,000.

The Federal Marketing Specialist Examination is organised by Suxxess, the official umbrella organisation commissioned by SEFRI (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation).

It takes place in 5 parts :

• Part 1 -> Individual written test, online at home (2 hours)
• Parts 2 to 5 -> In-person written tests in Basel (2 days)
• Oral test -> Presentation and interview with the jury, in Lucerne

The examination may be taken up to three times in total. Parts passed with a mark of at least 4.0 may be carried over to a subsequent attempt, with a deduction of CHF 100 per part taken from the examination fee. Suxxess

Candidates who have passed the Sales specialist benefit from gateway certain parts of the exam may be waived under certain conditions.