So I know that if I want to apply for a C permit before 10 years of residing in Switzerland, I need to prove that I know written and spoken German to a certain level (A2 in canton of Bern). They clearly told me that I can submit an official language certificate, or a certificate from a language school. I attended an online German course last sprint (on the Speexx platform if anyone is familiar with it) and I got a certificate for B1 level, and this platform is following the CEF standards. My certificate says: "Dieser Kurs entspricht den Lernzielen, die vom Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmen (GER) festgelegt wurden."

I am not really sure whether this kind of certificate from an online language platform will be recognised by the Swiss authorities? For example, does it have to be a well-known or Swiss language school? Would this be enough, or should I still do an official language exam? Is there an official place where I can ask if this certificate will be recognised?

Thanks!

Probably not, as the rules clearly state what institute has to issue the certificate.

You can ask Migrationsdienst des Kantons Bern.
It probably won't be recognised by them.

I doubt the Canton will accept a certificate from an unknown online course.

I highly recommend going with a test from one of the bigger, more recognized schools. A school from the naturalization lists for Basel and Zurich is probably a safe bet to be accepted by Bern as well.

Part of the reason for going with a recognized school now is that should you ever want to naturalize, you'll have to provide a language certificate from a recognized school anyway. Better to do it correctly now and not have to take yet another test later.

Here's an edited quote of a post I made in another thread that has the list of schools, with links.

Looks like Bern has a cantonal Sprachstandanalyse (SSA) as well, so I'd probably choose that one first:
https://www.bwdbern.ch/wb/weiterbild...hstandanalyse/

Hope this helps.