It is perfectly permissible to take the certificate exam without having attended a preparation course, but it is definitely not recommended. As the exam consists of very different parts, such as business administration, marketing, economics, law, communication, sales and communication, MarKom exam preparation is very extensive and very difficult without appropriate help and guidance. In the courses, you also deal with the exams, their procedure and content, take test exams and can receive targeted support from the teaching staff if you have any questions. It is possible to do without this, but it involves much more effort than attending a preparation course. However, if you don't want to leave the house to study, there are also online preparation courses offered by some schools. Use our contact form to enquire directly with the schools about this or other options.

Passing the MarKom certificate examination does not oblige you to take a subsequent Federal Professional Examination, but can also be attended by people who want to "get a taste" of marketing, sales, PR or communication and gain an insight into these fields of activity. For this reason, the MarKom exam preparation and the subsequent exam do not differentiate between future careers, but offer the same content for all participants, whether they are prospective sales specialists, marketing specialists, PR specialists, copywriters or communication planners. Once you have passed the exam, you can then decide whether and which federal certificate you would like to pursue - you do not need to have decided beforehand.

In addition to preparation courses at schools, where you take part directly in lessons, there are also online courses for MarKom exam preparation offered by some schools. You can study whenever and wherever you want and still receive professional support from competent teachers.

Most schools and training providers not only offer evening courses, but also day courses that take place either during the week or at the weekend. Online courses are also possible with some providers, where you can organize your learning time completely independently and thus carry out very flexible, yet supervised MarKom exam preparation.

Cantonal support for MarCom exam preparation is possible in some cantons, but is regulated very differently. The relevant schools where you wish to complete the preparation course can provide you with detailed information about your canton. Please contact them, for example via our contact form.

The MarKom admission exam is valid for five years. If your last examination was no more than five years ago and you register for one of the five Federal Professional Examination in Marketing Communication within these five years, you do not have to take another MarKom examination preparation with subsequent certificate examination, but after more than five years, a new examination is mandatory for registration for the Federal Professional Examination in Copywriting, Federal Professional Examination in Communication Planning, Federal Professional Examination in Sales, Federal Professional Examination in Marketing and Federal Professional Examination in PR. However, this regulation only applies to Federal Professional Examinations in these areas up to and including the 2018 examination year. For Federal Professional Examinations taken from the 2019 examination year onwards, however, a MarKom certificate examination is no longer required for admission.