How to obtain recognition for educational leave as a course provider
You would like to become a course provider of educational leave (Bildungsurlaub)? In the following, you will find all the information you need about the requirements and how you can obtain the relevant recognition/certification to offer official educational leave seminars.
As soon as you have a certification of a seminar, you can register as a course provider here (takes two minutes) – afterwards you can publish your educational leave courses on our website an find participants.
What is educational leave?
Educational leave, also known as Bildungsurlaub, Bildungszeit or Bildungsfreistellung, is a special form of leave for employees which serves the purpose of professional or political further education. Educational leave events must be recognised as such by the respective federal states. The basis for recognition is the respective educational leave laws of the federal states (Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, NRW, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thüringen). Saxony and Bavaria, by the way, have not yet adopted corresponding regulations, so employees here are not entitled to take Bildungsurlaub.
Recognition of seminars as Bildungsurlaub
Seminars are recognised as Bildungsurlaub by the respective authorities of the Bundesländer. The requirements for recognition are documented in the respective laws of the federal states.
You can find a good and up-to-date overview of the individual regulations from August 2022 here.
Participants of educational leave always need the recognition of the federal state in which their workplace is located. The recognition must be presented to the employer in order to apply for educational leave. This means that if the workplace of one of your participants is in Hamburg, for example, you must apply for / hold a recognition for Hamburg. In the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), you receive recognition as an organiser and not for individual seminars. In Hessen, a double qualification system will take effect from 1.1.2024: here, organizers themselves and the individual seminars need certification from the ministry. You can find more information here.
Besides physical seminars, online events can also be recognised as educational leave in many federal states. You can find a brief overview of which federal states also recognise educational leave in online format here.
Help for language schools
If you are a foreign language school and you want to have your courses recognised as Bildungsurlaub, there are two providers who can help you with certifications:
Bildungsurlaub Service & Bildungsurlaub Approval
Simplified recognition
Some federal states allow a simplified recognition of seminars. This means that if your seminar is already recognised as Bildungsurlaub in one federal state, this recognition can be accepted and thus recognised by another federal state. The following is an overview of the individual regulations.
- Brandenburg accepts recognition from Berlin: “Recognition is accepted and is also deemed to be recognised in the state of Brandenburg, provided that the requirements according to § 3 para. 1 nos. 8 and 9 BFV are met and the corresponding notice is not older than two years”
- Saarland also accepts recognition from other federal states:
- If the training measure has already been recognised in another federal state, it is also considered eligible for exemption in Saarland, provided that 5 hours of instruction per day are reached.
- The notice of recognition from the other federal state must be accompanied by the equal opportunities information, which you can download here.
- Thuringia also facilitates the recognition procedure. The requirements for recognition must be similar to those in Thuringia. The application for recognition must be submitted together with the notification of recognition from another federal state.
It should be noted that the recognition is limited in time – typically one or two years. Recognition for Thuringia, on the other hand, is unlimited.
Costs of recognition
In some federal states, the recognition of seminars is associated with costs.
Hamburg: 90,- Euro (Seminars for political education and the performance of honorary activities, however, are free of charge).
Saxony-Anhalt: 26,- Euro
Schleswig-Holstein: 69,- Euro
Thuringia: 10 to 150 euros, depending on the amount of work involved
Baden-Wuerttemberg: 150,- Euro for the recognition of sponsors
North Rhine-Westphalia: around 200 euros for the recognition of sponsors.
Steps for recognition of your seminars as educational leave
The following steps for the recognition of your seminars as educational leave will help you to make the process as efficient and simple as possible.
- In the first step, you should check whether your seminar basically meets the legal requirements of the federal state for which you would like to apply for recognition. In the overview below you will find links to the respective information pages of the individual federal states.
- If your seminar meets the requirements, submit the completed application documents. You will also find the corresponding forms for each federal state in the overview below. For many federal states you can use a standard application form. Recognition by the relevant bodies can take a few weeks, but is usually granted within a few days. In Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, recognition takes place as a CET organiser, as already mentioned. This has the advantage that you do not have to obtain recognition for each seminar individually. If you as a CET organiser already have a certification from another federal state that is recognised by the authorities, recognition for the two aforementioned federal states can take place relatively quickly. If you do not yet have a certification, the basic requirement for obtaining one is that you have been in existence as an educational institution for at least 2 years. In Hessen, there is a two-step procedure. First, there is a short check to see if you meet the requirements, followed by recognition as a CET organiser, and then the next step is the recognition of your seminars.
- If you have successfully completed the recognition process, we look forward to welcoming you as an organiser on our platform. To register and publish your offer, please click here. We will provide you with our service free of charge for the first 4 months – there is no need to cancel the introductory phase. After that, we can offer you a partner contract if you wish. Please ask us about the conditions.
- Your seminar participants also need the certificate of recognition before the seminar and the certificate of participation after the seminar to present to their employer. You can find the relevant templates on the websites of the respective authorities.
- Some federal states require statistical evaluations from the training providers; you will receive the necessary information on this in the notification of recognition.
Is it worthwhile to obtain recognition for several federal states?
The question is easy to answer. More federal states mean a larger market of potential participants. Nationwide, about 3,5 per cent of employees take advantage of their right to educational leave each year, which is about 500,000 people interested in education, and the trend is still rising.
