Verwaltungsfachangestellte

Overview

Verwaltungsfachangestellte (VfA) is a three-year recognised apprenticeship under the Berufsbildungsgesetz for office and administrative work in public authorities. It is part of the occupational field business and administration, with a focus on law and public administration. In the public sector it is offered in several specialisations, including federal administration (Fachrichtung Bundesverwaltung).

This page follows the Bundesverwaltungsamt (BVA), the federal service agency, which trains in this occupation and in a related civil service track and selects with an online test and an interview. The sources do not describe other federal, state or municipal employers, whose processes may differ, so check their job ads.

Who can apply

For the apprenticeship at the BVA you need at least the mittlerer Schulabschluss (Realschulabschluss or equivalent). The BVA looks for interest in office work and applying rules, for example keeping personnel files or calculating salaries, and the ability to work in a team and on your own.

Routes in federal administration

Verwaltungsfachangestellte (apprenticeship)

• Length: three years, with a possible cut to two and a half years on request for above-average results at work and in school.

• Structure: dual system. At the BVA, school takes place at the Ludwig-Erhard-Berufskolleg in Bonn in blocks of several weeks, in two blocks each year, and each year ends with a school report.

• Practical training: the first year covers internal administration such as the mail room, registry, personnel, budget and organisation. In years two and three you work in the general administration, with in-house instruction and practice offices (Lernbüros) alongside.

• Training record: trainees keep a Berichtsheft, which is a condition for admission to the final exam.

• Topics: the training business, office organisation, information and communication systems, communication and cooperation, administrative business management, personnel, general administrative law and procedure, and applying law to cases.

• Afterwards: work as a clerk in the mid-level of public service or in private industry. Trainees can apply for takeover at the BVA before finishing.

Beamtenanwärter, mittlerer nichttechnischer Dienst (civil service track)

This is a two-year preparatory service (Vorbereitungsdienst) for the mid-level civil service in general internal administration. It mixes theory courses, run by the BVA's in-house training unit, with placements in federal and municipal administration. Subjects include constitutional law, civil service law, public finance, organisation and data processing, and procurement and materials management.

Entry requires the mittlerer Schulabschluss, or a Hauptschulabschluss with a completed vocational training, plus German or EU citizenship, a commitment to the free democratic basic order, and staying within the maximum age limit set in section 48(1) of the Bundeshaushaltsordnung.

Selection process

The BVA hires apprentices once a year and does not take unsolicited applications, so you apply to a specific job ad. Ads appear on the BVA career site, service.bund.de and interamt.de.

1. Application with your documents.

2. Invitation to an online test. The format differs slightly by training programme.

3. Selection interview for those who pass.

4. Approval by the staff council, the representative for severely disabled employees and the equal opportunities officer, then a contract.

Pay

From 1 May 2026, the BVA pays apprentices a monthly training allowance of 1,368.26 EUR in year one, 1,418.20 EUR in year two and 1,464.02 EUR in year three. Extra benefits may include an annual special payment and a contribution to capital-forming benefits. Trainees get 30 working days of leave per full calendar year, taken during the practical phases.