Apply for funding for continuing vocational training at the Employment Agency

General support for further education with the education voucher:

With an education voucher, the Employment Agency can cover all or part of the costs of your continuing vocational training. Before you receive an education voucher, the responsible employment agency will check with you whether further training is necessary for you.

You can redeem the education voucher at an educational institution of your choice if it is approved for further education funding.

The training measure itself must also be approved and match the education voucher. The education voucher specifies, among other things:

• the educational objective,
• the time it takes to achieve the educational goal,
• the contents of the qualification,
• the regional scope, and
• the period of validity during which you must have redeemed the education voucher and started your participation.

The education voucher is generally valid at your place of residence and in places that you can reach daily from home.

The training costs that the Employment Agency pays for you usually include:

• course costs and costs for the aptitude test,
• travel expenses,
• costs for external accommodation and meals,
• Cost of caring for children.

Training bonuses:

As part of further training funded by the Employment Agency and commenced before 31 December 2023, which leads to a qualification in a training occupation for which a training period of at least 2 years is specified under federal or state law, you will receive a further training bonus of EUR 1,000 after passing an intermediate examination regulated in these regulations and EUR 1,500 after passing the final examination.

Subsequent acquisition of the secondary school leaving certificate:

Under certain conditions, the subsequent acquisition of the lower secondary school leaving certificate or an equivalent qualification is also funded.

Support for employees without a vocational qualification or with a non-usable vocational qualification (low-skilled):

If you do not yet have a vocational qualification or have not worked in your learned profession for more than 4 years and can no longer practice the profession you learned earlier due to alienation from your profession, you will be supported by taking over the costs of further training if you participate in further training measures for the subsequent acquisition of a vocational qualification.

These 4 years include:

• Periods of employment in unskilled and semi-skilled work
• Unemployment
• Periods for caring for relatives
• Child-rearing times
• Periods of marginal employment

If you are entitled to unemployment benefit before the start of your training, you will also be paid unemployment benefit for the period of further training.

Acquisition of basic skills:

If you still lack basic skills in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics or information and communication technologies, the Employment Agency can also promote further training in these areas under certain conditions.

Support for employed workers:

The Employment Agency can also promote the further training of employees, especially if they work in occupations that can be replaced by technologies or are otherwise affected by structural change or are seeking further training in a bottleneck occupation, i.e. in an occupation in which there is a shortage of skilled workers.

In principle, your employer must contribute to the course costs. He can also receive wage subsidies while you are undergoing further training. How large the share is depends on the size of the company:

• Wage subsidies:
  • up to 75% for micro-enterprises (up to 9 employees).
  • up to 50% for small and medium-sized enterprises (10 to 249 employees), and
  • up to 25% for companies with 250 or more employees,
• Subsidies for the course costs:
  • 100 % in micro-enterprises with up to 9 employees,
  • up to 50% in companies with up to 249 employees,
  • up to 25% in establishments with 250 or more employees,
  • up to 15% for large companies with 2,500 or more employees,
  • up to 100% in small and medium-sized enterprises (up to 249 employees) for older employees (aged 45 and over) or employees with a severe disability.
• In addition, up to 15% higher subsidies for course costs and remuneration in the case of a collective agreement or a company agreement on vocational qualification (plus 5%) and in the case of special training needs (plus 10%).
• Assumption of the full course costs and wage subsidy of up to 100% in the case of participation of low-skilled persons in employment in further training with the aim of obtaining a vocational qualification.