Language courses with government funding in Vienna – all information
Funding for your language course is possible through WAFF, AMS, Magistrat 17, Magistrat 35, Sozial- und Weiterbildungsfond (SWF) or Land NÖ.
Do you want to learn a language for your training, education, job, or for the integration requirement? Do you need funding for this? Whether you want to advance your career, achieve your own personal professional goals
or work internationally – your dreams don’t have to be shattered by not having the necessary financing! Anyone who takes a language course in Austria has a number of options for reimbursement or funding. Here you will find useful information on how to apply for funding for your language course or where you can get financial support for your training and further education.
Do you need a language course in German, English, Spanish, French, or Italian? Or do you need financial assistance for a language course in Chinese or Korean? Or maybe you have to learn Hungarian, Russian or Japanese in order to communicate in your job? You can find an overview of all language courses here.
If you would like to take a language course at a discount at the Sprachschule Aktiv Wien, on this page we will show you how you can receive financial grants and vouchers for learning a language.
Grants for language courses by the WAFF
WAFF funding can be applied for by employees, jobseekers, those who are newly self-employed and people on educational leave for whom a language course for training and further education or for returning to work would be useful.
We at Sprachschule Aktiv would be happy to provide you with a quote (Kostenvoranschlag) for a WAFF-sponsored language course in Vienna.
Get fundings from WAFF with Sprachschule Aktiv
Are you currently working or do you want to get back into a job and are looking for a way to get further training at a low cost? At Sprachschule Aktiv you have the opportunity to have a language course co-financed by WAFF. Sprachschule Aktiv is recognized as an educational institute by WAFF and supports the funding of language courses by WAFF. Here is a guide on who is entitled to WAFF funding and what you need to do in order to receive WAFF funding for your language course at Sprachschule Aktiv.
You can apply for WAFF funding as an employee, job seeker, newly self-employed person or if you are on educational leave, and if a language course at Sprachschule Aktiv would be useful for training and further education or for returning to work. The conditions under which you are entitled to WAFF funding vary from case to case and should be clarified in advance with your WAFF-advisor.
If you are entitled to funding from WAFF, it operates according to the following framework:
a) WAFF funding to cover 50% of the course costs, up to a maximum of €300. This is to co-finance training and further education for persons who are employed, unemployed, on educational leave or newly self-employed.
b) WAFF funding of up to €2,000 finances extensive further training for employees.
c) WAFF funding of up to €3,000 for employees, people on educational leave and the self-employed.
How much WAFF funding you are entitled to varies from case to case and should be clarified in advance with your WAFF advisor.
To attend your very own WAFF-funded language course at Sprachschule Aktiv, simply follow the next steps in order:
– Go to your WAFF advisor in advance to clarify whether WAFF will pay for your language course. WAFF decides individually from case to case whether you are entitled to a grant and how much this grant will be.
– We will prepare a cost estimate for your sponsored language course with us. Please use this form to request an estimate: https://www.sprachschule-aktiv-wien.at/angebot-anfordern/
– Submit the cost estimate to WAFF.
– After WAFF accepts the cost estimate, register for your language course via our homepage: https://www.sprachschule-aktiv-wien.at/anmeldung/
– If you take an exam with the language course, you will also receive an exam from WAFF.
Waff funding options:
1. WAFF Finanzierung
You pay the proportion of your course costs, as assigned to you by WAFF, before you start the course at Sprachschule Aktiv. The remaining course fees, the WAFF share of the costs, are taken over by WAFF for you. WAFF’s share is billed though Sprachschule Aktiv.
You take part in your language course and, if necessary, complete a subsequent exam.
The minimum attendance for a course is 80%. If the attendance is less then 80 %, you must immediately finance the full course fee yourself. If you do not take the exam, you must pay it in full.
At the end of the language course, Sprachschule Aktiv sends an invoice for WAFF’s share of the costs and a confirmation of your participation in the language course to WAFF.
WAFF reimburses Sprachschule Aktiv for its share of the course costs.
2. WAFF Refundierung
You must pay the entire course costs and exam cost before the course begins. After the end of the course, the Aktiv language school will send you a payment confirmation and a confirmation of participation, which you submit to Waff and Waff will refund the course costs to your account
After the course end
Upon successful completion of the course you will also receive a language certificate for the language level that you have completed. You will receive the examination certificate directly from the examination centre.
No. WAFF only funds your language course if your main place of residence is in Vienna.
In general, your main place of residence must be in Vienna at the time you contact WAFF for advice or at the latest when you apply for funding from WAFF.
You can work in another federal state, as long as your main place of residence is in Vienna. It is important that all other requirements are met so that your language course can be funded by WAFF.
No. WAFF provides funding for the employed and the newly self-employed, but not the self-employed with a business license for whom there are no funding offers from WAFF.
No. Mere participation in an exam is not funded by WAFF. WAFF only funds exams that are taken together with a course. The final apprenticeship examination (Lehrabschlussprüfung) is the only exam that is funded by WAFF regardless of course participation.
If you have come to Sprachschule Aktiv with an Opportunities Check, you must pay your share of the course costs at Sprachschule Aktiv before the start of the course and you do not have to do anything at WAFF after the course in order to complete your funding. You only have to have completed the language course (and in the case of an exam also the exam) so that we can send your confirmation of participation in the course (and, if applicable, the exam) to WAFF for you.
If you have covered all course and examination costs yourself before the start of the course, please do not submit a WAFF application to WAFF until you have completed the course AND have passed the exam.
You will only receive a confirmation of payment and confirmation of participation by email if you yourself have covered 100% of the language course costs before the start of the course. You must then present this to WAFF and you will receive your share of the funding back from WAFF. In this case, please check your spam folder.
If you have come to Sprachschule Aktiv with an Opportunites Cheque, you will receive an invoice for your share of the course costs before the start of the course. Please check your email and pay this bill to Sprachschule Aktiv before the course starts. At the end of the course, WAFF will receive a confirmation of participation and an invoice for the remaining course costs, the share borne by WAFF: you will then no longer have to worry about anything, just successfully complete the course and the exam – Sprachschule Aktiv will do everything for you!
The minimum attendance for a course is 75 %. If the attendance is less then 75 %, you must immediately finance the full course fee yourself. If you do not take the exam, you must pay it in full.
Education funding from Vienna’s Chamber of Labor – AK educational vouchers (Arbeiterkammer Wien)
There is another possibility for getting a fundung for your course and that is through the Arbeiterkammer. You can get the vouchers from the Arbeiterkammer and use them for one of several language courses at our school. You can pass by our school to drop off your vouchers and we will organize the course for you.
Get fundings from the Arbeiterkammer with Sprachschule Aktiv
Would you like to get your education funded? Then, they can do that with the help of the AK educational voucher. The AK education voucher is worth € 150 and can be redeemed for German or English language offers that have the AK logo on them:
German or English Intensive course
German or English Group course once or twice per week
Medical German course
ÖIF-Preparation course
ÖSD-Preparation course
If you are a member of AK Vienna and work for a company in Vienna, you can receive the AK educational voucher worth € 150. The AK voucher is also given to apprentices, marginal employees and freelance workers.
wien.arbeiterkammer.at/bildungsgutschein
Service telephone +43 1 800 311 311 (free of charge, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3.45 p.m.)
More information: https://wien.arbeiterkammer.at/kurse
You can redeem the AK education voucher for one language course or have it split among several language courses.
This is valid immediately and can be redeemed for language courses that run until December 31st. of the current entitlement year.
It is not permitted to redeem the voucher in cash, neither in whole nor in part.
Register for a course online: https://www.sprachschule-aktiv-wien.at/anmeldung/ In field “remarks” you must mentioned that you would like to redeem the AK-Gutschein and the amount.
Once your course has been confirmed you will need to bring the voucher to our office. We cannot accept vouchers received after the course start or after an invoice has been issued.
According to the AK regulation, the AK vouchers can only be redeemed for German courses, English courses and ÖIF-Exams.
AMS grants for language courses
The AMS actively supports people in finding a job or reintegrating into the job market. Language skills are often an advantage. AMS therefore promotes the attendance of language courses and covers the course costs if you apply for a language course through AMS. The language course is then free of charge for you.
If you want to register for a free language course at the Sprachschule Aktiv Wien, you can drop in at any time during our opening hours or send us an e-mail and get a cost estimate for AMS. You can also ask your AMS consultant in advance which language course is the right one for you.
The following steps must be taken into account:
– Sprachschule Aktiv will give you an estimate for your language course.
– You submit the cost estimate to your AMS consultant.
– After acceptance of the costs by AMS, the acceptance confirmation needs to be sent to us. Then, you can take part in a language course with us and the costs will be paid by AMS.
– Upon successful completion of the course, you will receive a course confirmation and a language certificate for the language level completed.
Using your newly learned language increases your chances on the job market.
Funding from the Social and Continuing Education Fund (SWF) for private individuals
With this support for private individuals, temporary workers can have their language course completely reimbursed. If you work part-time, you can use your free time to learn a new language and expand your language skills. The SWF offers grants for private individuals who would like to continue their language training in addition to their professional activity. Depending on their income threshold, these grants can cover up to 100% of the total language course costs.
Blue ÖIF federal voucher from MA 35 (for German courses A2)
Are you from a non-EU country and want to settle in Austria? As part of the integration agreement IV (2017), as a third-country national you can receive financial support from the MA 35 in the form of a partial reimbursement of course costs for learning German under certain conditions.
Foreign German learners receive a blue federal voucher for this from the magistrate or the district administration to complete a level A2 German course at a certified course institute. At Sprachschule Aktiv, we accept the MA 35 blue federal vouchers.
If you are in possession of such a blue federal voucher, all you have to do is follow the steps below to take a 50% discounted language course with us:
– The voucher is valid for 18 months from receipt of the residence permit and must be presented when registering for the course.
– You register for a German integration course of level A2 and pay the course costs.
– Within this period of validity, you must attend an integration course and complete the course with an integration test from the ÖIF.
– To successfully settle the voucher, you must have participated in at least 75% of the course units and passed the A2 integration test.
– You take the voucher with you to the final integration exam, where an ÖIF employee will confirm your attendance.
– If all conditions are met, you can claim a course fee reimbursement from MA 35.
– Refunding comprises 50% of the course costs, up to a maximum of € 750.
Vienna language vouchers from MA 17 (for German courses of levels A1, A2 and B1)
The MA 17 – Integration and Diversity enables owners of Vienna language vouchers to take a language course at reduced cost. This applies to new immigrants as part of the Integration Agreement IV (2017). How to get your language course with a discount at the language school Aktiv Wien:
– Language vouchers are available with a value of € 50 and € 100.
– After you have completed your prescribed modules, one or more of your language vouchers will be stamped.
– When registering for a language course, indicate that you want to redeem a stamped language voucher. This will then be kept by the language school and its value will be deducted from the total course price.
– You will be reimbursed up to € 300 total course costs in the form of language vouchers, whereby you can only redeem one language voucher for each language course.
– You can redeem several Viennese language vouchers in succession for several language courses.
Educational support from the state of Lower Austria
The state of Lower Austria is endeavoring to increase the professional qualifications of workers in order to ensure their long-term opportunities on the job market. The quality of the workforce in companies is also an important factor that is close to the heart of Lower Austria. That is why the State of Lower Austria is undertaking a contribution to the financing of education costs for people who take vocational training measures, such as a language course at the Sprachschule Aktiv Wien.
People who are interested in further training in this direction can get a share of the education costs incurred by the state of Lower Austria.
Fundings of courses for the state of Lower Austria
- Employees who receive further training allowance or childcare allowance
- Persons employed in the private sector
- People returning to work after a maximum of five years of the end of parental leave who have not received or have not received any benefits from the AMS
- Handicraft public employees
- The main residence must have been in Lower Austria for at least 6 months before the start of the course.
- The NÖ educational funding must take place at a recognized educational institute. Sprachschule Aktiv Wien is a recognized and certified educational institute and has certifications such as NÖ-Cert, Ö-Cert, Wiencert.
- The educational course must serve a job-specific further training, e.g. obtain new qualifications or maintain and refresh old ones that are either directly applied in the profession or are a prerequisite for a higher qualification in the corresponding field of work.
- At least 75% attendance is required.
- The income limit must not be exceeded.
Monthly gross income – amount of funding (max. € 2,500)
- up to € 1,500 80% of the course costs
- up to € 2,000 60% of the course costs
- up to € 3,000 40% of the course costs
- up to € 4,000 20% of the course costs
- Course costs under 100 €
- Exam fees
- Registration fees
- Leisure courses
- Non-job-specific language courses
- Preparation courses for the vocational matriculation examination
- Persons who have a statutory, collective agreement or service / employment contract entitlement to the assumption of costs for the further training measure completed in the company’s interest by the employer
- People who are registered as jobseekers with the AMS or who receive unemployment benefits
- Training and retraining outside the field of work
- 13 weeks before the start of the course at the earliest and no later than 2 weeks after the start of the course
- For the application, use the online form on the homepage of the Province of Lower Austria: http://www.noe.gv.at/bildungsfoerderung
- If you would like to receive the funding approval before the start of the course, then the fully completed application form must be received by the Office of the Lower Austrian State Government no later than 6 weeks before the start of the course.
Funding for German courses A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 by the ÖIF
The ÖIF supports the integration of people with a migration background in Austria and the social coexistence of all people living in Austria. The ÖIF supports German integration courses that help you to settle in Austria.
You can use this ÖIF individual support, which supports you in learning German. The ÖIF-funded German courses are available for levels A1, A2, B1, B2 and C1. Individuals who meet certain requirements for their German integration course are entitled to individual ÖIF funding.
You can get a quote for your very own German course for integration, funded by the ÖIF, from us at Sprachschule Aktiv.
How do I get my ÖIF-funded German course?
Would you like to take a German integration course at Sprachschule Aktiv and have it funded by the ÖIF? Then simply follow the steps below:
– Come to Sprachschule Aktiv and say that you are interested in receiving individual funding from the ÖIF for your German integration course.
– Sprachschule Aktiv will assess your language level and provide you with a cost estimate for your ÖIF-funded German course.
– The application for course funding is reviewed by the ÖIF. The ÖIF will inform both you and Sprachschule Aktiv as to whether you are receiving individual funding and to what extent.
– If you receive ÖIF individual funding, you will get a written confirmation of funding from the ÖIF with the respective funding amount. If the course sum exceeds the maximum ÖIF funding amount, you must pay the difference yourself as a deductible.
– Register at Sprachschule Aktiv for the ÖIF German course
– Take part in the ÖIF German course. You must be present at the course for at least 80% of its duration in order to receive the ÖIF funding. If your attendance is less then 80 %, you have to pay the full course fee immediately by yourself.
– Sprachschule Aktiv sends the timetable, the course attendance list with your signature to the ÖIF.
– At the end of the course, Sprachschule Aktiv will invoice the individual funding through the ÖIF.
Learn German and foreign languages for free
Did you find your language course at a discount? If there’s something for you, apply for a free financial injection to take a sponsored language course at Sprachschule Aktiv Wien. On our homepage you have the opportunity to learn German for free. The German language is simply explained in our blogs about German grammar. A free online placement test is available at any time for the languages German, Italian, English, Spanish, French or Russian. Would you like to take an ÖIF exam in Vienna? In order to prepare perfectly for the integration exam, we have put together German online exercises for the ÖIF exams A1, A2, B1 and B2 and sample test for ÖIF-Exam preparation. On our homepage you will also find a model test for ÖIF integration testing of values and orientation knowledge. Do you work or live outside of Vienna and can’t come to us to register? No problem, because online registration without a registration fee is possible at any time. Our staff will be happy to provide you with further information.