Apply for funding for professional development at the Jobcenter

General further education support with the education voucher:

With an education voucher, the Jobcenter can cover all or part of the costs of your continuing vocational education. Before you receive an education voucher, the responsible job center will check with you whether further education 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 further education measure itself must also be approved and fit the education voucher. The education voucher specifies, among other things:

• the educational goal,
• the duration until the educational goal is reached,
• the contents of the qualification,
• the regional area of application and
• the period of validity in which you must have redeemed the education voucher and begun your participation.

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

The continuing education costs that the Jobcenter pays for you usually include:

• Course costs and costs for determining suitability,
• travel expenses,
• Costs for lodging and meals away from home,
• Costs for child care.

Continuing Education Awards:

If you start a continuing education program to obtain a vocational qualification in a recognized training occupation, you will receive EUR 1,000 for passing an intermediate examination regulated by law or ordinance and EUR 1,500 for passing the final examination.

Continuing education allowance:

If you participate in a degree-oriented continuing education program, you will receive a continuing education allowance of EUR 150 per month as of July 1, 2023.

Citizen's allowance bonus:

If you participate in a further vocational training (of at least 8 weeks) for which you are not entitled to a further training allowance, you will receive a citizen's allowance bonus of 75 EUR per month from 01.07.2023.

Subsequent acquisition of the secondary school leaving certificate:

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

Support for employees without a vocational qualification or with a vocational qualification that cannot be used (low-skilled workers):

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 occupational alienation, you will be subsidized by assumption of the costs of further training if you participate in further training measures for the subsequent acquisition of a vocational qualification.

The following are included in these 4 years

• Periods of employment in unskilled and semi-skilled work
• Unemployment
• Periods spent caring for relatives
• Periods spent raising children

If you are still in need of assistance according to SGB II during the period of further education, you will continue to receive your citizen's allowance during further education.

Acquisition of basic skills:

Basic skills in reading, writing, mathematics or information and communication technologies can be supported by your job center under certain conditions, provided that these basic skills improve your employability on the labor market or you want to complete a vocational qualification afterwards.

Support for employed workers:

The Agentur für Arbeit is responsible for this type of support.

However, the relevant job center can advise you on further training for employees, particularly if they work in occupations that may be replaced by technology or are otherwise affected by structural change, or are seeking further training in a bottleneck occupation, i.e. an occupation in which there is a shortage of skilled workers.

Your employer must generally contribute to the cost of the training. He or she can also receive wage subsidies while you are undergoing further training. The size of the contribution depends on the size of the company:

• Wage subsidies:
  • Up to 25 percent for companies with 250 or more employees,
  • up to 50 percent for small and medium-sized enterprises (10 to 249 employees), and
  • up to 75 percent for microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees).
• Grants for training costs:
  • 100 percent in microenterprises with up to 9 employees,
  • up to 50 percent in companies with up to 249 employees,
  • up to 25 percent in companies with 250 employees or more,
  • up to 15 percent in large companies with 2,500 or more employees,
  • up to 100 percent in small and medium-sized enterprises (up to 249 employees) for older employees (from age 45) or employees with a severe disability.
• In addition, up to 15 percent higher subsidies for training costs and wages if there is a collective agreement or a company agreement on vocational qualification or if there is a special need for further training.
• Assumption of the full cost of training courses and a wage subsidy of up to 100 percent for low-skilled persons participating in training courses with the aim of obtaining a vocational qualification.

With an education voucher, the Jobcenter can cover all or part of the costs of your further vocational training. Before you receive an education voucher, the relevant Jobcenter 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 further education measure itself must also be approved and match the education voucher. The education voucher specifies, among other things

• the educational objective,
• the duration until the educational goal is achieved,
• the content of the qualification,
• the regional area of validity and
• the period of validity within which you must have redeemed the education voucher and started your participation.

The training voucher is generally valid at your place of residence and at locations that you can reach from home every day.

The training costs that the Jobcenter pays for you generally include

• Course costs and costs for the aptitude test,
• travel costs,
• Costs for accommodation and meals away from home,
• Costs for childcare.

Further training bonuses:

If you start further training before 31.12.2023 with which you acquire a vocational qualification in a recognized training occupation, you will receive EUR 1,000 for passing an intermediate examination regulated by law or ordinance and EUR 1,500 for passing the final examination.

Subsequent acquisition of the lower secondary school leaving certificate:

Under certain conditions, funding is also available for the subsequent acquisition of a lower secondary school leaving certificate or equivalent qualification.

Funding for employees without a vocational qualification or with a vocational qualification that cannot be used (low-skilled workers):

If you do not yet have a vocational qualification or have not worked in the profession you have learned for more than 4 years and can no longer work in the profession you previously learned due to a change of profession, you will be supported in participating in further training measures to subsequently acquire a vocational qualification by covering the costs of further training.

These 4 years include

• Periods of employment in unskilled and semi-skilled work
• Unemployment
• Periods spent caring for relatives
• Periods spent bringing up children

If you are still in need of assistance under SGB II during the training period, you will continue to receive your citizen's allowance during the training period.

Acquisition of basic skills:

If you still lack basic skills in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics or information and communication technologies for further training with which you want to acquire a vocational qualification, the Jobcenter can also support further training in these areas under certain conditions.

Funding for employed workers:

The employment agency is responsible for this type of funding.

However, the relevant job center can advise you on further training for employees, especially if they work in occupations that can be replaced by technology or are otherwise affected by structural change or are seeking further training in a bottleneck occupation, i.e. an occupation in which there is a shortage of skilled workers.

Your employer must generally contribute to the costs of the training course. They can also receive wage subsidies while you are doing further training. The amount depends on the size of the company:

• Wage subsidies:
  • Up to 25 percent for companies with 250 or more employees,
  • up to 50 percent for small and medium-sized companies (10 to 249 employees) and
  • up to 75 percent for micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees).
• Grants towards the course costs:
  • 100 percent in micro-enterprises with up to 9 employees,
  • up to 50 percent in companies with up to 249 employees,
  • up to 25 percent in companies with 250 or more employees,
  • up to 15 percent for large companies with 2,500 or more employees,
  • up to 100 percent in small and medium-sized companies (up to 249 employees) for older employees (aged 45 and over) or employees with a severe disability.
• In addition, up to 15 percent higher subsidies for training course costs and wages if there is a collective agreement or a company agreement on professional qualification or in the case of special training needs.
• Assumption of the full course costs and wage subsidy of up to 100 percent for the participation of low-skilled workers in further training with the aim of obtaining a vocational qualification