Become an educator

A training or further training as an educator also enables employment in other areas of child and youth welfare, such as open all-day care, leisure facilities or inpatient facilities.

The training or further training is very future-proof. The further expansion of the U3 age group, the legal entitlement to an all-day childcare place and demographic developments will ensure that there will continue to be a continuously high demand for staff. What's more, unlike many other sectors, new technologies cannot replace social professions.

The professional field therefore has a future and we need committed and motivated specialist staff to be able to offer our children the best possible conditions in the field of early education and care! Further training to become a nursery school teacher can be funded via the AFBG (Aufstiegsförderungsgesetz) or, in the case of retrainees, through education vouchers from the employment agency, as all social work colleges at vocational colleges run by local authorities are AZAV-certified and eligible for funding as retraining locations.

In the case of initial and further training for educators, it is also possible to have skills acquired at universities credited across the board on the basis of the "ReziprAn" decree and to shorten the training. Recognition is granted upon application to the school management. Further information on the "ReziprAn" decree

State-approved nursery school teachers are employed as specialists in all types of groups in North Rhine-Westphalian daycare facilities and work with children of all ages up to school age. They are allowed to lead groups and can even take over the management of a facility after gaining sufficient professional experience. In addition, due to their generalist training and further education, they can also be employed as specialists in other fields of child and youth welfare work.

1. Prerequisites

For the nursery teacher training course at the vocational schools for social work, specializing in social pedagogy in North Rhine-Westphalia, your individual professional and educational background is important. The minimum entry requirement is a secondary school leaving certificate (Fachoberschulreife) with a relevant vocational qualification, e.g. as a childcare worker or social assistant.

If you already have a qualification from a higher vocational school for social services or a technical secondary school for social services, i.e. a vocational baccalaureate with a subject-related internship, no additional vocational training is required.

If you have a higher education entrance qualification or non-relevant vocational training, you must provide proof of experience in this field of activity, e.g. in the form of an internship of 240 hours in a socio-educational institution.

In addition, training to become an educator can also be completed at a vocational grammar school. The admission requirement for the vocational grammar schools is the intermediate school leaving certificate (Fachoberschulreife) with the entitlement to attend the upper secondary school level. Grammar school students who wish to transfer to the introductory phase (year 11) of the vocational grammar school at the end of the final year of lower secondary level need to be entitled to attend the upper grammar school level.

Professional aptitude must also be demonstrated by submitting an extended certificate of good conduct.

2. Forms of training and further training

2.1 Consecutive training at the Fachschule für Sozialwesen, Fachrichtung Sozialpädagogik

In North Rhine-Westphalia, you generally have the option of completing training as an educator and further training as an educator at the Fachschulen für Sozialwesen in the field of social pedagogy.

The training generally lasts three years. Of these, two years are completed in theory at the technical school, including 16 weeks of practical training, and end with the technical school examination (theoretical examination); this is followed by a one-year professional internship, which ends with a colloquium (practical examination) and, if successfully completed, with state recognition. The vocational internship can be shortened by six months if proof can be provided of at least three years of work in socio-educational institutions and if at least satisfactory results have been achieved during the theoretical part of the training and in the technical school examination.

Here you can find a list of vocational schools that offer this course of education.

Note: Institutions that accept vocational trainees and offer vocational traineeships are not required to offer this course of education. Internships and have vacancies can be easily found using the filter function on our job portal. However, this only becomes relevant with regard to the third year of training.

Further information

Depending on your own biography, the following financial support may be available for consecutive training or further education.

Personal circumstances:
First training after obtaining the Abitur or Fachhochschulreife You have already completed relevant vocational training (e.g. state-certified childcare worker:in / Sozialassistent:in)
Possibilities: Aufstiegsfortbildungsförderungsgesetz (AFBG) for the first two years of training. The third year of training is usually remunerated.
Further information: Bezirksregierung Köln Inquire about the amount of remuneration from the institutions you are eligible for.

Personal circumstances:

First training after obtaining the Abitur or Fachhochschulreife
You have already completed relevant vocational training (e.g. state-certified childcare worker:in / Sozialassistent:in)

Possibilities:

Aufstiegsfortbildungsförderungsgesetz (AFBG) for the first two years of training.
The third year of training is usually remunerated.

Further information:

Bezirksregierung Köln
Inquire about the amount of remuneration from the institutions you are eligible for.

Personal circumstances:
Low-skilled employees within the meaning of Section 81 SGB III
Possibilities: Retraining in accordance with Section 81 SGB III for the first two years of training. The third year of training is usually remunerated.
Further information: Federal Employment Agency If you are catching up on a vocational qualification, you are legally entitled to further vocational training. Contact your local employment agency for more information.

Personal circumstances:

Low-skilled employees within the meaning of Section 81 SGB III

Possibilities:

Retraining in accordance with Section 81 SGB III for the first two years of training.
The third year of training is usually remunerated.

Further information:

Federal Employment Agency
If you are catching up on a vocational qualification, you are legally entitled to further vocational training. Contact your local employment agency for more information.

2.2 Practice-oriented further training at the Fachschule für Sozialwesen, Fachrichtung Sozialpädagogik

In North Rhine-Westphalia, there is also the option of completing practice-oriented further training at the Fachschule des Sozialwesens, Fachrichtung Sozialpädagogik. Theoretical and practical training periods are dovetailed in such a way that the minimum 2,400 hours of theoretical training are only completed in the third year, but from the first year onwards, students are already working in a childcare facility or another socio-educational institution, which is usually also remunerated. The specialist school examination and the colloquium coincide at the end of the third year; here too, state recognition is granted upon successful completion of the examination. This qualification can also be used to obtain the entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences.

In addition to a place at a vocational school, an employment contract with an institution is also required at the start of the course. Funding as a trainee is thus also regulated by collective bargaining law, so that remuneration is paid from the outset.

Here you will find a list of vocational schools that offer this course of education.

Open places at institutions that accept trainees to become educators in practice-integrated form can be easily found using the filter function on our job portal.

Further information

Depending on your own biography, the following financial support may be available for practice-oriented training or further education.

Personal circumstances:
First training after obtaining the Abitur or Fachhochschulreife You have already completed relevant vocational training (e.g. state-certified childcare worker:in / social assistant)
Possibilities: All three years of practice-integrated training are generally remunerated.
Further information: Inquire about the amount of remuneration from the providers you are interested in.

Personal circumstances:

First training after obtaining the Abitur or Fachhochschulreife
You have already completed relevant vocational training (e.g. state-certified childcare worker:in / social assistant)

Possibilities:

All three years of practice-integrated training are generally remunerated.

Further information:

Inquire about the amount of remuneration from the providers you are interested in.

Personal circumstances:
Low-skilled employees within the meaning of Section 81 SGB III
Possibilities: Retraining in accordance with Section 81 SGB III or employee qualification in accordance with Section 82 SGB III for all three years of training.
Further information: Federal Employment Agency There is a legal entitlement to further vocational training when catching up on a vocational qualification. Contact your local employment agency for more information.

Personal circumstances:

Low-skilled employees within the meaning of Section 81 SGB III

Possibilities:

Retraining in accordance with Section 81 SGB III or employee qualification in accordance with Section 82 SGB III for all three years of training.

Further information:

Federal Employment Agency
There is a legal entitlement to further vocational training when catching up on a vocational qualification. Contact your local employment agency for more information.

2.3 General higher education entrance qualification and vocational qualification (double qualification) at a vocational grammar school

The term "double qualification" means that in addition to the general higher education entrance qualification (Abitur), the vocational qualification as a state-recognized educator is also acquired in accordance with state law.

After three years of theoretical training at school with a total of 14 weeks of practical training in various socio-educational institutions, the central Abitur examination takes place. After a one-year professional internship with project work and a final colloquium, the vocational training to become a "state-recognized educator" can be completed.

Here you will find a list of school locations that offer the dual qualification.

Further information

Depending on your own biography, the following financial support options may be available for a double qualification at a vocational grammar school:

Personal circumstances:
Medium school-leaving certificate with qualification (FORQ)
Possibilities: Schüler-BAföG
Further information: Ministry for Schools and Education

Personal circumstances:

Medium school-leaving certificate with qualification (FORQ)

Possibilities:

Schüler-BAföG

Further information:

Ministry for Schools and Education

Personal circumstances:
You already have relevant vocational training (e.g. state-certified childcare worker:in / Sozialassistent:in + FORQ)
Possibilities: Aufstiegsfortbildungsförderungsgesetz (AFBG)
Further information: Bezirksregierung Köln

Personal circumstances:

You already have relevant vocational training (e.g. state-certified childcare worker:in / Sozialassistent:in + FORQ)

Possibilities:

Aufstiegsfortbildungsförderungsgesetz (AFBG)

Further information:

Bezirksregierung Köln

2.4 Externenprüfung

In addition to the possibility of training or further training to become an educator. In addition to the option of completing training or further education to become an educator at a technical college or in the upper secondary level of a vocational college, North Rhine-Westphalia also offers the option of completing a so-called "external examination". These examinations are offered by the district governments. After successfully passing an external examination, a one-year work placement must be completed and successfully passed; under certain conditions, this can be shortened. The professional internship can be shortened by six months if proof of at least three years of work in socio-educational institutions can be provided and if at least satisfactory results have been achieved during the theoretical part of the training and in the technical school examination.

Detailed information can be found in the leaflet Information on the external examination from the Düsseldorf district government.

Information leaflet on the external examination

Further information can be found on the website of the Ministry of Schools and Education responsible for educator training in North Rhine-Westphalia and under the links below:

Become an educator