Apply for a Hesse education voucher in 2024

Do you live in Hessen and want to improve your career prospects? We have good news - with the Education voucher you can have the training you want financed. In this article, you can find out exactly how this works and how StackFuel can help you get your career off to a flying start. 

Further training and retraining in Hesse: Your chance with the education voucher  

The Hessen education voucher is a grant that can be used to partially or fully finance your further education or retraining. In some cases, you can also use the voucher to catch up on your vocational qualification. The funding is very individual and is adapted to your needs in terms of its scope and amount. To ensure that your needs and further training goals are taken into account precisely, a consultation is necessary during which you apply for the voucher directly and verbally. If the application is approved, the corresponding costs for your further training will be covered. You can find out what these are later in the article. 

The interview is also the application stage. Depending on your professional situation, different authorities are responsible for providing advice and handling the bureaucratic procedures. You can find your contact person at the employment agency, job center or pension insurance office. You can find out at which authority you can get your consultation appointment in the subchapter "Where to get advice on the Hessen education voucher". 

The voucher is a promise that the costs for a specific further education or retraining course will be covered. The Hessen education voucher states the following: 

• the educational goal 
• the duration of the qualification 
• the region where the education voucher can be redeemed and 
• the validity period of up to three months. 

The voucher must be redeemed with a training provider within a maximum period of three months after it is issued. The qualification and the training provider must have AZAV certification (Accreditation and Approval Ordinance for Employment Promotion). StackFuel has the corresponding approval.   

You can easily find education providers in Hessen online, the platform "azav-scout" is a good address for this. In principle, online courses can also be financed with the education voucher because they can be completed from any location. StackFuel specializes in distance learning courses in the field of IT and all of our further education courses can be funded with the Bildungsgutschein Hessen. You can find out why the education voucher exists and who has a good chance of receiving this funding in the next section. 

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Objectives of funding with the Hesse education voucher  

The education voucher is a direct response to the growing shortage of skilled workers. The labor market is also changing as a result of structural change in the sectors. The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs predicts that this change will accelerate over the next 20 years. The aim of job centers, employment agencies and pension insurance companies is to ensure that employees in their local sphere of influence can acquire the qualifications they need in order to benefit from the structural change. The education voucher is one of the key tools for achieving this goal.  

The Hessen education voucher is aimed in particular at people who are unemployed or at risk of unemployment. The qualifications that are primarily supported are set out in the educational target plans of the respective districts. If you can close a gap in the labor market with your desired qualification, for example in the field of IT, it increases the likelihood that you will be granted the education voucher. It is therefore worth finding out which qualifications are in demand on the job market and matching this with your personal career aspirations.  

Our tip: Use our practical checklistto find out whether the Hessen education voucher is the right funding program for you.  

Requirements: When do you get an education voucher from Hessen?  

If you are unemployed or at risk of unemployment and live in Hessen, you have a good chance of receiving a Hessen education voucher. Your desired qualification should either increase your chances of finding a job and thus your competitiveness on the labor market, or avert the threat of unemployment. If you are no longer able to work in the profession you have learned for health reasons, or if you are estranged from your profession, the application for the education voucher can also be approved.  

If your retraining is aimed at a shortage occupation, this will increase your chances of receiving funding. Bottleneck occupations or shortage occupations are particularly affected by a shortage of skilled workers and therefore receive preferential funding. In your district's training target plan, you will find specialist areas that are particularly eligible for funding.  

Here you will find links to some educational target plans for various cities in Hesse. If your city or region is not listed, it is best to ask your local authority directly.

• Educational goal planning Giessen
• Educational goal planning Wiesbaden
• Educational goal planning Darmstadt
• Educational goal planning Offenbach

To apply for your voucher, you will need a consultation with the authority responsible for you. We will explain how you can prepare for this in the next section.  

Tip: Are you not unemployed but in employment? Then perhaps the Qualification Opportunity Act the right funding for your further training.

How to prepare for your consultation on the education voucher with the employment agency  

You apply for your Hessen education voucher during a consultation at the authority responsible for your request. This can be the employment agency, the job center or the pension insurance. This consultation is necessary because each education voucher is very individual and must be explicitly tailored to your needs. The good thing is that you are spared a lot of bureaucracy. However, you also need to be well prepared for the interview.  

In addition to the requirements we outlined in the last chapter, your reasoning also plays a role. It must be clear that you actually need your desired qualification in order to increase your chances on the job market. If prior knowledge is required for the further training or other prerequisites must be met, you should prepare the relevant evidence. Bring your CV and certificates with you to the interview. You should also record any additional financial expenses incurred in connection with the further training in advance; use the list in the next sub-chapter as a guide. 

Our tip: The training courses at StackFuel are all AZAV-certified, they take place online and most are suitable for beginners and lateral entrants. Find out more about the Top five professions for career changers.   

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The cost of further training or retraining plays a role, as there is a fixed budget for the funding program each year and the aim is to support as many people as possible. When awarding education vouchers, the costs are weighed up against the benefits each time. You should take this into account when looking for the right educational provider. Online courses are particularly preferred when awarding an education voucher in Hesse, as they are inexpensive and can usually be completed regardless of location. 

Our tip: Book your personal, no-obligation consultation with StackFuel now. Our employees will work with you to develop your arguments so that you can soon get started with your education voucher from Hessen.  

If the application is rejected even though you have met all the requirements, you can submit a written objection and the application will be reviewed again. There is no legal entitlement to the education voucher, so your argumentation must be plausible. You can find out which costs can be covered if your application is approved in the next sub-chapter. 

Education voucher Hesse: These costs can be financed  

The following costs can be covered with the education voucher: 

• Course costs  
• Fees for further training, 
• Costs for necessary learning materials and, if applicable, work clothes,  
• Expenses for test pieces and costs for a necessary aptitude test or examination fees 
• Travel costs, costs for tickets or travel allowance if you have to commute to the training location with your own vehicle 
• Costs for accommodation and meals away from home if daily commuting is unreasonable 
• Costs for childcare and 
• Benefits for living expenses: Unemployment benefit or citizen's allowance can be paid for the period of further training.

Which costs are actually covered and how much will be decided individually by your advisor at the responsible authority during the consultation. During the consultation, your educational aspirations will be compared with the educational goal plan and your needs will be analyzed.   

Prerequisite for selecting your training provider with the education voucher 

When looking for suitable further training, it is best to take into account the educational target plan of your district. This plan lists the subject areas and types of further training that are given preference when awarding education vouchers. However, the list is not exhaustive. If your further training is not literally listed in the educational objectives plan, but can be argued with the general objectives, you still have a chance of receiving funding. 

Only further training courses at training providers with AZAV certification are eligible for funding. This regulation guarantees the necessary efficiency and reliability of the provider as well as the quality of the further training. Locally based providers and providers of online courses are given preference when awarding education vouchers in Hessen.  

Here you can get advice on the Hessen education voucher 

Get advice about your options before applying. You can do this either with your desired educational institution such as StackFuelor at independent advice centers, such as the Educational Counseling Hesse. Only then register for an appointment for consultation and application with the responsible authority: 

• If you Citizen's income your advisor at the Jobcenter is responsible for you and also for the application for the Hessen education voucher. 
• If you Unemployment benefit or are employed, then you can submit your application to the Employment Agency, where you will also receive the appropriate consultation. 
• If you are unable to work for a longer period of time due to illness, the Pension insurance the consultation and the application.

Our tip: Book your personal consultation with StackFuel. Our employees will introduce you to our learning platform and help you find the right IT training for you.  

Education voucher Thuringia and education voucher Hesse: These are the differences

If you do not want to apply for the education voucher in Hesse but in the neighboring federal state of Thuringia or if another authority is responsible for you after a move, you can basically rest assured: Formally, the specifications and requirements for the education voucher are the same. However, as the education voucher is a discretionary decision made by your respective contact person at the authority, there may be regional differences in processing and approval.

In particular, the different educational goal plans of the regions can have an impact on the decision on the application for an education voucher. For Thuringia, we have linked some examples of educational goal planning below. If your region is not included, it is best to ask your local authority.

• Educational goal planning Plauen/ Vogtland
• Educational target planning East Thuringia
• Educational target planning Thuringia-Mitte
• Educational target planning Thuringia-Southwest

This is what happens once you have received the education voucher from Hesse 

Once you have received your Hessen education voucher, you must redeem it within a maximum period of three months. It is important that you start your further education within the period of validity, otherwise the voucher will expire and you may have to apply for a new one. You redeem the voucher directly with the educational institution, which then takes care of the rest of the bureaucratic process and you can concentrate fully on your further education.  

Get your career off to a flying start with the Hessen education voucher 

At StackFuel, you have a wide choice of qualifications that are in demand on the job market in Hesse. If you are looking for a career change into application development, our courses are "Python Basics" or "Python Programmer" especially recommended. Python is a general-purpose programming language and Python programmers are in demand everywhere in Hesse and beyond. You can find out how much you can earn with these skills in our article: "This is how much a Python developer earns: Guide for 2024". 

The probability of being hired after further training in IT is very high. However, when looking for a training provider, you should still pay attention to the general conditions. Here are the key questions you should ask an online training provider in advance: 

• What certificate will you receive after your training and what can you do with it? 
• How is the educational platform structured? Is it self-explanatory and ergonomic?  
• What if I need help, is there personal support?  
• Is there support with job applications after the course? 

Of course, your own learning performance is also important to successfully complete a course, but don't worry: you don't have to be a math ace to enter the world of IT. In our article "Don't be afraid of IT jobs" we explain why. 

A well-invested education voucher from Hessen can open up new career paths for you, as IT professions are particularly friendly to career changers. Companies are also happy to hire career starters and invest a lot in employee training. A course at StackFuel can be just the right "firestarter" or "booster" you need to climb your new career ladder.