Training to become a childcare worker also enables employment in other areas of child and youth welfare, such as all-day childcare, leisure facilities or inpatient facilities.

The training is very future-proof. The further expansion of U3, 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!

Funding for childcare training can be applied for via BAföG (Federal Training Assistance Act) or, for retrainees, via education vouchers from the employment agency, as all vocational schools for childcare at vocational colleges run by local authorities are AZAV-certified and eligible for funding as retraining locations

State-certified nursery nurses are primarily employed as supplementary staff in groups where only children over the age of three are cared for until they start school. However, they are also employed in groups where children under the age of three are cared for. Experienced nursery nurses (three years) with 160 hours of further training are increasingly deployed to work with children under the age of three. Those who successfully complete the training and have a secondary school leaving certificate can also begin further training to become a state-recognized educator.

1. requirements

You need at least a first school-leaving certificate (Hauptschulabschluss after year 9) or an equivalent qualification.

2. forms of training

2.1. consecutive training at a vocational college / at vocational schools

In North Rhine-Westphalia, you generally have the option of completing childcare training at vocational schools. The course usually lasts two years and is full-time, with integrated internships of at least 16 weeks.

Students who pass the final vocational examination are entitled to use the professional title "State-certified childcare worker". It is also possible to obtain the intermediate school leaving certificate.

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

Further information

Depending on your own biography, the following financial support options may be available for consecutive education:

2.2 Practice-oriented training at the vocational school

From the 2021/2022 school year, training to become a state-certified childcare worker can also be carried out in the form of practice-integrated training (PiA). The regulations of the APO-BK also apply without restriction to practice-integrated training.

Vocational schools that offer the practice-integrated form of training interlink theoretical and practical phases in different ways. Compared to full-time school-based training, there are around 220 hours fewer lessons at school. These hours are outsourced in the form of "lessons at a different location" and added to the practical phases that have to be completed anyway, i.e. the students work in a childcare facility two to three days a week throughout, which is usually also remunerated.

Students who pass the final vocational examination are entitled to use the job title "state-certified childcare worker". It is also possible to obtain a secondary school leaving certificate.

In addition to a place at a vocational school, an employment contract with a facility is also required at the start of the training.

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

Open places at institutions that accept trainees as childcare workers 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 options may be available for practice-oriented training:

2.3 External examination

In addition to the option of training as a childcare worker at a vocational college, there is also the option of taking an "external examination" in North Rhine-Westphalia. These examinations are offered by the district governments. Successful completion of the external examination entitles the holder to use the professional title "Staatlich geprüfte Kinderpflegerin" or "Staatlich geprüfter Kinderpfleger".

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

Leaflet Information on the external examination