Vocational school (Berufsschule) in dual training

Dual vocational training (duale Berufsausbildung) combines practical training in a company with lessons at a vocational school (Berufsschule). At school, trainees learn occupation-specific and broader content; federal rules apply to the company part, while the federal states are responsible for vocational schools. 26

Who needs this

• Anyone doing dual training learns in two places: the training company and the vocational school. Whether school attendance is compulsory depends on the rules of each federal state. 2345
• Compulsory attendance is not regulated the same way everywhere. In Bayern, trainees must generally attend vocational school, at most until the end of the school year in which they turn 21. Trainees with an Abitur or Fachhochschulreife are not required to attend there, but may do so. 4

Step by step

1. Check with your training company which vocational school is responsible for your occupation. The federal states decide where the specialist classes (Fachklassen) are held; for occupations with few trainees, some classes are organised across state borders. 6
2. Find out how registration works. In Gerlingen (Baden-Württemberg), the training company usually registers trainees with the responsible vocational school. In the area of IHK Düsseldorf (Nordrhein-Westfalen), the company must register trainees with the Berufskolleg immediately after the training contract is concluded. 35
3. Plan for lessons: depending on local organisation, they take place weekly or in blocks. In full-time dual training, trainees attend vocational school on one or two days a week or in a block of several weeks. Under the framework agreement, lessons total at least 12 hours a week. 26
4. Attend the lessons. The company must release trainees for them and must not employ them before lessons that start before 9 a.m. Lesson time, including breaks and necessary travel between school and the training company, counts as training time; released time does not have to be made up. 12
5. Note the rules for longer school days and block weeks: once a week, trainees must be released on a school day with more than five lessons of at least 45 minutes each; that day counts as the average daily training time. They must also be released for a scheduled block week with at least 25 hours on at least five days; it counts as the average weekly training time, and up to two additional hours of company training activities per week are permitted. Trainees must also be released for examinations and on the working day immediately before the written final examination. 1

Cost and time

• In Bayern, vocational school lasts as long as company training, at least two and at most three and a half years. Block teaching may require accommodation if trainees cannot return home daily; there, the resulting costs are reimbursed apart from a small personal contribution. 4

Deadlines

• In the area of IHK Düsseldorf, the training company must register the trainee with the Berufskolleg immediately after the training contract is concluded. 5

City by city

• Gerlingen: The published Baden-Württemberg information sets compulsory vocational-school attendance until age 18 for young people who have completed full-time compulsory schooling and do not attend another general or vocational secondary school. Anyone who starts training before the end of the school year in which they turn 18 must attend vocational school until the training is completed. 3
• Düsseldorf: In Nordrhein-Westfalen, vocational schools are called Berufskollegs. Anyone under 21 when the training starts must attend until it ends; anyone already 21 at the start may attend but is not required to. With the company’s agreement, a trainee may attend a different Berufskolleg if it has enough places. 5