The goal of the vocational training guarantee is to give all young people who don’t yet have a vocational qualification access to a full apprenticeship, ideally at a company. The vocational training guarantee doesn’t just mean that vocational training is offered; it has various elements. It includes both advice and support services, from career guidance and assistance all the way through to help with starting and successfully completing the vocational training.

Starting on 1st April 2024: career orientation internship, mobility allowance and adjustments to the vocational training entry qualification

The new legal regulations surrounding the vocational training guarantee relate to four funding instruments that are being introduced on 1st April and 1st August 2024. Starting from April, the federal employment agencies and Jobcenters will be funding career orientation internships in companies. In this context, necessary costs such as travel expenses and accommodation costs can also be covered. The funding also includes in-depth career orientation- and choice of career advice.

The mobility grant is there to help young people who are prepared to relocate for their in-company vocational training. Apprentices can use this grant to pay for up to two family trips home each month in the first year of their vocational training.

As the third element of the vocational training guarantee, new regulations on the vocational training entry qualification are taking effect on 1st April. This can now be completed part-time, and the minimum duration has also been reduced from six months to four months. This means that more young people and companies can make use of the vocational training entry qualification, including more people who suffer from a disability, for example. This takes account of the need for an inclusive vocational training and labour market.

State-funded vocational training: legal entitlement from 1st August 2024 for those entitled to support

On 1st August 2024, new rules for state-funded vocational training also take effect.
Those entitled to support will then have a legal entitlement to state-funded vocational training. The prerequisite is for the young people in question to have made sufficient efforts to apply for roles and to have taken advantage of the careers advice services. The group of persons eligible for this support is also being extended to include young people who live in a region in which the federal employment agencies have identified a significant shortage of vocational training places to exist.