You can take part in extra-company vocational training if

• You have completed your compulsory schooling, regardless of whether you have a school-leaving certificate or not.
• You have not yet found an apprenticeship and have no prospects for the future.
• your integration into in-company vocational training cannot be achieved with training support, for example with assisted training.
• They have learning difficulties or are socially disadvantaged.

You belong to the group of people with learning difficulties if

• You have completed compulsory schooling but do not have a school-leaving certificate,
• you attended a special school with a focus on learning or
• you are unlikely to be able to successfully complete an in-company apprenticeship despite having a secondary general school certificate or comparable school-leaving qualification.

You belong to the group of socially disadvantaged persons,

• if you are under considerable social, personal and/or psychological pressure and are therefore unable to meet the requirements of company-based training.
• Indications of this may be

• Behavioral problems
• Performance problems (e.g. reading and spelling difficulties)
• single parents
• young people with criminal convictions
• young people with a history of addiction problems
• young people from a migrant background with language deficits or difficulties settling into a foreign environment

You are also eligible for support

• if you have provided evidence of application efforts at the employment agency, have taken advantage of career counseling services and
• if, regardless of the placement efforts of the employment agency, you are unable to take up in-company vocational training with their support and
• you live in a region where there are not enough training places.
  

If you wish to continue your training in a non-company vocational training program because your company-based or other non-company training relationship was terminated prematurely, you do not have to be a person with learning difficulties or socially disadvantaged. One of the prerequisites for this is that you can complete your training within the contractual period of the measure and that there is a free place available.

Special requirements for foreign nationals:

As a foreigner, you can generally receive the funding, taking into account the requirements already listed, if you are allowed to do training or work in Germany - unless legally prescribed funding exclusions apply. You can find out about this from your local employment agency or job center.

You are not entitled to participate in extra-company vocational training if you

• came to Germany no more than 5 years ago to work, study or do an apprenticeship,
• are permitted or tolerated.

As a newly arriving foreigner who is eligible for support, you can generally be supported after a residence period of 3 months.

The Training and Further Education Act introduced a legal entitlement to funding for extended extra-company vocational training in the Third Book of the German Social Code from August 1, 2024 if you meet the respective funding requirements.