Lifelong learningth, that’s the government’s motto. She advises everyone to keep developing themselves, and at Dynamisch Bureau, we fully support that. The job market is evolving, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact, and there are significant shortages of skilled workers.

It’s not always easy for job seekers to take advantage of these shortages, especially if you lack the right qualifications. To make it easier to pursue further education or training, the STAP budget was introduced.

Which courses?

Anyone between the ages of 18 and the state pension age can apply for the STAP budget. You can receive up to €1,000 for a training or course listed on the website stap-budget.nl. Only these approved programs are eligible for the subsidy.

The website lists a wide range of training programs, from short, relatively affordable courses to longer, more expensive ones. You’ll find options like forklift operator training, but also programs to become a medical assistant. From a course in “Influential Communication” to a full training to become a vitality coach. You can search the site by field of work, education level, cost, and more.

STAP budget requirements

In addition to the requirement that the course must be registered on the official website, there are several other conditions you need to meet in order to qualify for the STAP budget. For example, there are six application rounds each year, and your course must start between 4 weeks and 3 months after your application.
If you’re under 30, you cannot apply for a program recognized by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), as you may still be eligible for student finance. Also, you can only apply for one course per year—even if you haven’t used up the full €1,000 with your first course.
Finally, there is a cap of around 300,000 grants per year, so make sure to act quickly.

Applying for the STAP budget

If you want to make use of the STAP budget, follow these steps:

1. Go to www.STAP-budget.nl and find a course you would like to do;
2. Go to the provider’s site and reserve a spot, and keep your registration certificate safe;
3. Check whether you can immediately submit your application to the UWV (the first application period starts on 1 March);
4. Submit your application to the STAP portal of the UWV, as soon as possible after the start of the application period, because gone = gone!

If the course you want to take costs more than €1,000, you’ll need to pay the remaining amount yourself. However, you can always discuss with your employer or benefits agency to see if they might be willing to (partly) cover the additional costs.

There are now quite a lot of training programs available for registration, so visit website and make use of this subsidy to keep developing yourself.