In the ‘ValiKom’ collaborative project, funded by the federal ministry of education, a total of 17 Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHKs), 13 Chambers of Crafts (HWKs) and 2 Chambers of Agriculture (LWKs) developed and tested a procedure for validating informally and non-formally acquired vocational competences between 2015 and 2024.

The Vocational Training Validation and Digitalisation Act (Berufsbildungsvalidierungs- und -digitalisierungsgesetz – BVaDiG) introduced, with effect from 1 January 2025, a procedure for assessing vocational competence against the standards of a dual vocational training programme, as set out in the Vocational Training Act (Berufsbildungsgesetz – BBiG) and the Crafts and Trades Regulation Code (Handwerksordnung – HwO).

With this assessment procedure, people without a formal vocational qualification are, for the first time, entitled to have their vocational competences assessed and certified against the standards of a dual vocational training occupation. The basic requirement is that they are at least 25 years old and that their competences cover at least the majority of the job profile. Exceptions apply to people with disabilities, provided that this has a corresponding impact on their professional competence (no age limit; partial comparability is sufficient). High standards are set both for access to this assessment procedure and for the actual assessment of the applicant’s professional competence, in order to ensure that the assessment is comparable to a standard final examination.

It is essential that applicants have worked in the profession for at least one and a half times the standard training duration prescribed for the reference profession for which they are applying for an assessment. During this period, their work must have covered the relevant job profile almost entirely if they are seeking full comparability. Only then can the procedure be initiated at all.

In order to support all Chambers of Industry and Commerce, Chambers of Crafts and Chambers of Agriculture responsible for assessing individual professional competence in fulfilling their new statutory duty – the organisation and conduct of procedures for assessing professional competence – during the initial years, a ‘Validation’ service centre has been established with funding from the federal ministry of education.