Further education or continuing education – what is the difference?

Further education and continuing education are often used interchangeably in everyday language. In fact, there are important differences, for example in their objectives, professional impact and funding. This short overview explains what distinguishes these two forms of professional development.

The first thought when comparing the two terms is often: “It does not matter whether we call it further education or continuing education – what matters is learning.” That is not wrong in itself. However, the distinction becomes relevant when it comes to organising training, defining its objectives or financing it.

Further education – regulated by law

Like many things in Germany, further education has a legal basis. The German Vocational Training Act (BBiG, Section 1(4)) describes its objectives in greater detail. In summary, further education serves to maintain occupational competence in a person’s current profession, adapt it to new requirements or extend it.

A distinction is often made between further education to update skills and further education for career advancement. The seemingly unremarkable word “current” is crucial: further education generally keeps you within your existing field of work. You acquire new methods, practical knowledge or additional qualifications that enable you to do your job more quickly, safely or efficiently.

In many cases, employers have a direct interest in keeping their employees’ specialist knowledge up to date. Further education is therefore often initiated and financed by the company. Typical examples include:

• An office employee receives training in the latest version of a spreadsheet application. She already knew the basics, but now learns additional functions and can work more efficiently.
• A warehouse employee obtains a forklift operator’s certificate. Already working in logistics, he expands his practical capabilities within the same field.
• Participants therefore remain closely connected to their previous work, but gain additional knowledge or tools.

Continuing education – broader career prospects

Continuing education, by contrast, offers considerably more flexibility. It is not necessarily limited to a person’s current field of work, but can also help broaden career prospects, open up new areas of responsibility or provide qualifications for other activities.

Many jobseekers use continuing education to strengthen their position in the labour market with new skills and up-to-date knowledge, improving their chances of finding a new job. Continuing education often leads to certificates or evidence of qualifications. The initiative frequently comes from employees themselves, and less often from employers.

There are also numerous government funding programmes for continuing education that employees can apply for themselves, usually in consultation with their employer. In some German federal states, there is even a statutory entitlement to educational leave. Typical examples of continuing education include:

• A graphic designer working in print completes continuing education in video and moving-image production. This opens up a new creative field that can also benefit the company.
• An employee in a materials testing laboratory who has previously worked exclusively in destructive testing gains an additional qualification in non-destructive testing (NDT). This enables the employee to take on new tasks or provide specialist cover for colleagues.

What further education and continuing education have in common

Whether further education or continuing education, both forms of professional development are equally valuable to employees and employers.

Companies with a long-term outlook often support their employees in both forms of professional development. This strengthens not only specialist competence but also commitment and loyalty to the company. In practice, well-trained employees generally find workable solutions more quickly, benefiting both customers and the company.

Conclusion: further education and continuing education

Although the terms further education and continuing education sound similar, they are not identical. A simple memory aid can help:

• Continuing education = broadening your educational horizons
• Further education = continually developing your skills within your existing profession

Incidentally, the distinction between further education and continuing education is also a popular examination question in the WiSo (economics and social studies) component of our vocational retraining programmes 😉.