General further education funding with the education voucher:

With an education voucher, the employment agency can cover all or part of the costs of your further vocational training. Before you receive an education voucher, the relevant 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 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 education voucher is generally valid at your place of residence and at locations that you can reach from home every day.

The further training costs that the employment agency 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:

As part of further training funded by the employment agency and started before December 31, 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 regulations, 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 a secondary general school certificate or an equivalent qualification is also subsidized.

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
• Periods of marginal employment

If you are entitled to unemployment benefit before the start of your further training, you will also receive 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 support further training in these areas under certain conditions.

Funding for employed workers:

The employment agency can also promote 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 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,
• Grants towards the costs of training courses:
  • 100% in micro-enterprises with up to 9 employees,
  • up to 50 % in companies with up to 249 employees,
  • up to 25 % in companies 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 companies (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 training course costs and wages if there is a collective agreement or a company agreement on vocational training (plus 5%) and for special training needs (plus 10%).
• Assumption of the full course costs and wage subsidy of up to 100% for the participation of low-skilled workers in employment in further training courses with the aim of obtaining a vocational qualification.