As of August 2026 · Prices as published by the providers Preparing for the AI Business Specialist, Swiss federal diploma.
Scholé compared
This page compares honestly. It shows where we are better, and it shows where a classroom course is better. Every price comes from what the providers publish themselves, collected in August 2026. The sources are listed under the table.
Four routes to the exam, side by side
We compare categories, not individual schools. The figures in the cells come from what the providers publish. Where a category is strong, it says so, even when that category is not ours.
- included
- partly, limited or at extra cost
- not available
| Criterion | Classroom coursein person or hybrid, fixed class | Fully online cohortlive teaching by video call | Self-study platformplatform access, no teaching | Scholéadaptive, with role play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (range) | CHF 9'000 to 15'900, median 13'500 | around CHF 8'500 | from CHF 3'490 a year, around 4'990 with coaching | CHF 6'500, launch price 3'250 |
| What is included | Teaching, materials, supervision of your project work. Exam simulation sold separately by some providers. | Live sessions, materials, support within the cohort. | Platform access for a year. One provider adds coaching in the more expensive package, seven one to one sessions. | All lessons, case study training, unlimited role play simulation, all four languages. |
| Time commitment | A fixed timetable across several months, usually one or two evenings a week. One provider packs everything into 19 intensive days. | A fixed cohort with a start date and fixed live sessions. | Free to schedule, though the licence usually expires after twelve months. | Free to schedule, no semester rhythm, no start date. |
| Languages | Usually one language per location, German or French. One provider teaches in English. | Usually one language per cohort. | One or two, depending on the provider. | Four: German, English, French, Italian, including in the role play. |
| Exam part 1: project presentation and technical discussion (50%) | Your project work is supervised in class and teachers give feedback on it. | Supervision in the live sessions, feedback on the call. | Content yes, supervision of your own project work no. | Content along B3 and C3 to C5, and you can practise the technical discussion in the role play. We do not read your project work personally. |
| Exam part 2: written case studies (25%) | Practice case studies in class, marked by hand. | Case studies in the cohort, discussed on the call. | Practice tasks with automated feedback. | Case study training covering reading technique, answer structure and time budget, with automated feedback. |
| Exam part 3: oral critical incidents, role play (25%) | Exam simulation is usually an add-on with one or two slots. One provider sells it separately for CHF 1'380, another bundles it at a stated value of CHF 2'000. | A limited number of simulation slots in the schedule. | Usually not included. | Role play simulator, included and unlimited, with feedback along the assessment dimensions of the exam. |
| Personal contact, teachers | Teachers in the room, questions answered on the spot, in person days in the programme. | Live teachers, but on video rather than in the room. | Coaching at extra cost with some providers. | No teachers, no in person days. Your questions are answered by the platform, not by a person with exam experience. |
| Study group, network | A class, study groups and contacts that last beyond the course. | A fixed cohort with the same people all the way through. | None. | No class, no study group. You learn on your own. |
| Experience with Swiss federal examinations | Established schools with decades of experience in Swiss professional education. | Established providers, shorter history in the fully online format. | Young offerings with little history. | We are new. Nobody can show pass rates, not even the schools: the exam is held for the first time in October 2026. |
| Federal contribution possible | As a rule on the SBFI list, and the providers advertise the halved price. | The same contribution applies if the course is listed. | Depends on the provider, ask before you buy. | We are registering the course for the SBFI list. Until the entry is confirmed we promise no reimbursement. |
Basis: the published course prices of 25 of the 39 providers certified by ICT-Berufsbildung, collected in August 2026. Two large providers publish no price and two more block automated access to their pages, so we have deliberately left their figures out. The exam parts and their weighting come from the examination regulations and the official directive, the rules on the federal contribution from the SBFI.
Sources: ict-berufsbildung.ch (examination regulations, directive, list of certified providers), sbfi.admin.ch (federal contributions to candidates) and becc.admin.ch (the list of eligible preparation courses). Prices change, and we update this page when something material changes.
What classroom courses do better
These points are not politeness. They are the reason a classroom course is the better use of money for many candidates.
Fixed dates keep you in the course
A Tuesday evening with twenty people expecting you works better than any resolution. People studying next to a job and a family drop out more often when the schedule is entirely their own. A timetable makes that decision for you every week.
Someone answers the follow-up question
When an explanation does not land, you can keep asking until it does, and the answer comes from someone who has already walked candidates through Swiss federal examinations. That kind of judgement cannot be automated.
A class that stays
Study groups, quizzing each other, shared summaries and contacts that outlast the exam. For some people that is the real return on a classroom course, whatever the final grade.
Schools that have done this for decades
The established providers know how a Swiss federal examination runs, how the examiners ask and how to shape a project into an exam format. We do not have that experience.
Plainly: if you learn better sitting in a room with other people and with a fixed plan in your calendar, take a classroom course. We would rather say so here than have you pay us and stop after four weeks.
And if you want both: plenty of people use a classroom course for the structure and Scholé for the practice in between. The two do not exclude each other.
What Scholé does better
Five points, each with the figure it rests on.
Role play, unlimited and included
Two of the three exam parts are oral and together carry 75 percent of the grade: presentation and technical discussion 50 percent, critical incidents 25 percent.
That is the hardest thing to practise on your own, and it is exactly what the classroom providers charge extra for: one provider sells the exam simulation separately for CHF 1'380, another bundles it at a stated value of CHF 2'000. With us it is included, and you can repeat it as often as you like.
Adaptive lessons instead of a fixed syllabus
The platform first checks what you already know and adjusts the lessons accordingly. The structure follows the official competency areas A to F, but the order and the depth follow you.
In a classroom the material moves at the pace of the group. If you already bring half of it from practice, you still sit through the other half.
Four languages, including the simulation
German, English, French and Italian, and you can switch mid course. The simulation for exam part 3 speaks all four.
A classroom course normally teaches in one language per location. If you work in German speaking Switzerland but sit the exam in French, you have little choice there.
No semester rhythm
No start date, no fixed evenings, no catch-up sessions. You begin when you are ready and study when your week allows it.
For shift work, frequent travel or a demanding project, that is often the difference between sitting the exam and postponing it.
CHF 6'500 against a median of 13'500
CHF 6'500 sits just below the closest comparable self-paced offer in this market: one provider sells platform, materials and module exams for CHF 6'900. And it sits far below the classroom band of CHF 9'000 to 15'900.
The market has already priced this digital discount itself: the same provider charges CHF 9'920 for the taught version of the programme. With our launch price of CHF 3'250 the gap grows further.
Price comparison
First the course prices on their own, then the calculation that actually affects you: what leaves your account in the end.
| Offering | Course price | What you get for it |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom course | CHF 9'000 to 15'900 median 13'500 |
Teaching with teachers, a fixed class, materials, supervision of your project work. |
| Fully online cohort | approx. CHF 8'500 | Live teaching by video call, a fixed cohort, no in person days. |
| Self-study platform | from CHF 3'490 | Platform access for a year, no teaching, coaching at extra cost with one provider. |
| Scholé | CHF 6'500 launch price 3'250 |
All lessons, case study training, unlimited role play, four languages. No teachers, no class. |
All four rows are still missing the exam fee. It is CHF 3'000, goes straight to ICT-Berufsbildung and is never subsidised. That is why it appears in the calculation below.
What it costs you in the end
Classroom course at the median price
| Course fee | CHF 13'500 |
|---|---|
| Learning materials | CHF 500 |
| Federal contribution, 50 percent back | CHF -7'000 |
| Exam fee, never subsidised | CHF 3'000 |
| Your net cost | CHF 10'000 |
Scholé at the launch price
| Course, launch price | CHF 3'250 |
|---|---|
| Learning materials, included | included |
| Federal contribution, 50 percent back once listed | CHF -1'625 |
| Exam fee, never subsidised | CHF 3'000 |
| Your net cost | CHF 4'625 |
Both calculations assume the course is on the SBFI list. For the established classroom courses that is the norm, for us the registration is still in progress. To stay honest, budget CHF 6'250 for Scholé while the confirmation is missing. Even then you are well below the CHF 10'000 of the classroom route.
Launch offer: CHF 3'250
The list price is CHF 6'500. For the first cohort ahead of the exam window in October 2026 you pay CHF 3'250, which is half. This is our own launch discount and has nothing to do with the federal contribution. It runs until the places in the first cohort are gone.
Reserve a placeWant to see whether it suits you first? The course page has a full lesson, without signing up.
The federal contribution, explained properly
The federal contribution is not a provider discount, it is a federal benefit. It works differently from how many course pages present it.
- 50 percent of eligible course costs, capped at CHF 9'500. That is the ceiling for a Berufsprüfung, the professional examination this diploma belongs to. The ceiling for a higher professional examination is different, and those are two different qualifications.
- You file the claim, not the provider. The candidate submits it after the exam, to the SBFI. No school and no platform can do it for you.
- You have to have paid the course costs yourself. Only what you personally paid is reimbursed. Anything your employer covers does not count.
- Sitting the exam is enough, passing is not required. Anyone who sits the exam is entitled, including after a fail. Further conditions: tax domicile in Switzerland, at least CHF 1'000 of eligible course costs, and a claim within two years of the examination decision (Prüfungsverfügung), not of the exam date itself.
- The exam fee is not reimbursed. The CHF 3'000 goes to ICT-Berufsbildung and does not count as an eligible course cost. That figure stays in every version of the calculation.
- The course must be on the SBFI list. Only courses on the list (Meldeliste) in the year they start trigger the contribution. Format and contact hours do not matter, and online courses are explicitly eligible.
Our status, without spin: we are registering the course for the SBFI list (Meldeliste). The entry is not confirmed yet, and until it is we promise no reimbursement.
For context, because this is often confused: the list is a register of notifications, not a seal of quality. Providers enter their own courses and nobody reviews the content in the process. There is no such status as "SBFI accredited", not for us and not for any other provider.
If you depend on the contribution, ask us for the current status before you buy, or plan with the full price and treat the contribution as a bonus. As soon as the entry is in place, we will say so on this page.
Questions about the comparison
Why is Scholé cheaper than a classroom course?
Because we rent no classrooms, pay no teaching hours and schedule no classes. The market has already priced this discount itself: one provider sells the same programme taught for CHF 9'920 and as self-study for CHF 6'900, another drops from CHF 10'600 to CHF 8'500 for the fully online version.
What falls away with us is exactly what a classroom course does better: teachers, fixed dates, a class. The price difference is not a trick, it is the bill for those things.
Can I use Scholé alongside a classroom course?
Yes, and for many people that is the best combination. The course gives you structure, teachers and a class. Scholé gives you the practice in between: revising at your own pace, case study training and as many role play runs for exam part 3 as you want.
Ask your provider whether they already use Scholé. There is a separate page for education providers.
What happens if the course does not make it onto the SBFI list?
Then there is no federal contribution on our course and you pay the full amount. We are in the process of registering the course, and it is not confirmed yet.
Budget with the price before any contribution and treat the contribution as a bonus rather than part of the calculation. More on this in the section on the federal contribution.
Who is Scholé not right for?
For you, if you need fixed dates to keep going. If you would rather put your questions to a teacher in the room. Or if you are hoping the course gives you a network that lasts beyond the exam.
We cannot offer any of that, and we will not pretend otherwise. In those cases a classroom course is the better use of your money.
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