From the job center: How does an education voucher actually work?

Anyone who can show an education voucher does not have to pay anything for further training or retraining.

From the job center: How does an education voucher actually work?

Anyone who can show an education voucher does not have to pay anything for further training or retraining. But who gets this benefit anyway?

Unemployed or at risk of unemployment? So it can make sense to reorient yourself professionally - in other words: to do further training or retraining.

The question of financing remains: Participation fees as well as travel and examination costs can be quite expensive. So there are ways to get financial support.

For example with an education voucher. "With such a voucher, the responsible employment agency or the job center confirms in writing that you will pay for all further training costs," says Martina Westphalen, consultant at the Institute for Vocational Training (IBB).

The procedure is as follows: If you want an education voucher, you have to apply for it at the responsible employment agency or job center. "This takes place in a personal conversation," says Christian Ludwig from the headquarters of the Federal Employment Agency in Nuremberg.

In the interview, the clerk explores whether the requirements for an education voucher are met in the specific case. For example, anyone who is unemployed, at risk of unemployment or looking for a job can receive an education voucher.

Employees who need further training to secure their job may also be eligible. In the same way, those who want to return to work after a long illness or after a family break and want to qualify for it can apply for an education voucher.

A basic prerequisite for further training funding: "It must be necessary in order to integrate the applicant into the labor market, to avert impending unemployment or to catch up on a missing professional qualification," says Westphalen.

Before the competent employment agency hands over the desired training voucher, it also checks whether the prospect is personally suitable for the envisaged professional goal.

"For this purpose, the clerks may involve the professional psychological service or the medical service of the Federal Employment Agency," says Ludwig. You should also find out whether there is a job market for the desired qualification. "It can be helpful here to present relevant job offers to the clerk," says Westphalen.

Whether or not an interested party gets the education voucher they applied for is always a case-by-case decision. "There is no legal entitlement to this," clarifies Martina Westphalen.

According to Christian Ludwig, a legal entitlement can only consist of the employment agency or the job center promoting the subsequent acquisition of a vocational qualification or a secondary school certificate or comparable school certificate with an education voucher.

It is important to contact the job placement service at the job center or employment agency before starting further training. Only further training and qualifications for which there is written approval from the employment agency or job center in the form of an education voucher can be financially supported. "This also applies to the travel costs," says Ludwig.

As Martina Westphalen explains, the further training must also be approved for the voucher procedure and the provider must be certified accordingly.

If you have an education voucher, you can freely choose the certified provider. Interested parties can look for suitable further training offers on the Kursnet portal of the Federal Employment Agency or do this together with intermediaries.

"In general, it always makes sense to think about where you want to go and to look for suitable opportunities before you talk to the employment agency or job center," says Christian Ludwig.

And what is an activation and referral voucher (AVGS)? "While the employment agency or the job center pays for further training or retraining with an education voucher, one of the two places finances coaching, measures or a private job placement service with an AVGS," explains Ludwig.

Coaching can be relevant, for example, for people starting up a business. Interested parties must also apply for an activation and placement voucher at the employment agency or the job center.

In the next step, they can then search for suitable offers on the website of the Federal Employment Agency, for example, and then signal interest to the respective provider.

Interested parties then contact their placement specialist again, who will check whether the envisaged measure will help them professionally and whether all the requirements have been met. If this is the case, there is an approval notice. The employment agency or the job center therefore bear the costs. However: The AVGS is always a discretionary benefit - there is no legal entitlement to it.

(This article was first published on Wednesday, August 17, 2022.)