Relevant practical experience

In order to be admitted to the preparatory service, you must provide evidence of at least one year of relevant practical experience. This goes back to a KMK agreement for the teacher training at vocational colleges/ teaching at vocational schools and is also legally anchored in teacher training in NRW.

The reason for this is that teachers at vocational colleges / vocational schools teach trainees, among others, and it is expected that teachers also have their own insight into the world of work in companies. In our view, this also makes sense in terms of content, just as company trainers are expected to be familiar with the vocational schools. A five-week internship at a vocational school is therefore also required for the Master's degree in Business Education / Teaching at Vocational College II, even if the company profile is chosen.

However, as this is formally an admission requirement for the preparatory service,  the relevant examination office is responsible for verifying these requirements. This is located in the State Office for Quality Assurance and Information Technology for Teacher Training.

You can find information on the confirmation and also the crediting options (e.g. dual vocational training) here.

 If you have a confirmation of practical work experience, you can have the professional internship provided for in your degree course credited on this basis. Information on this can be found at our Centre for Teacher Education (ZfL).