Vocational training for employment: FPE courses and certificates of professionalism

FPE is the set of courses and training actions of the employment system, aimed at workers throughout their working life, whether unemployed or employed. It is managed by the SEPE (State Public Employment Service) and the employment services of each autonomous community (SAE, SOC, Lanbide, SEXPE, SOIB, EMCAN, among others).

In the public offer for unemployed people, these courses are free: the funding is public and you do not pay tuition fees. The National Catalogue is organised into 26 professional families and includes a large number of training specialities, which you can check in the search engine on the SEPE electronic headquarters. In 2026 there are more places in computing and digital skills, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, health and social care, renewable energies, logistics, administration and hospitality.

It should not be confused with subsidised training (Fundae), which is what companies offer their active workers charged to their contribution credits. Both are part of the Workplace Training System, but the access route is different.

A certificate of professionalism is the official accreditation that you have the skills to perform a specific occupation. It is issued by the SEPE and the autonomous communities and has official status and validity throughout the national territory. It does not expire: once obtained, it is permanent. For its recognition abroad, European transparency is articulated through Europass and the levels of the European Qualifications Framework (MECU/EQF), and the exercise of regulated professions in another Union country follows Directiva 2005/36/CE (Directive 2005/36/EC).

It is structured into three qualification levels (1, 2 and 3). For employment purposes, a certificate is equivalent to vocational training of the same level, so it serves to prove your qualification to companies and in selection processes, and for the authorisation requirements of certain professions.

Many FPE courses are linked to a certificate. To obtain it, you must pass all the training modules and, when the certificate requires it, the non-labour professional internship module in a company.

Both unemployed and employed people can access them. In both cases, you need a valid DNI or NIE (Foreigner Identity Number, the basic identification for non-nationals). Unemployed people must be registered as job seekers with their regional service; employed people usually prove their employment situation (payslip, contract or employment history header) and register in specific calls for workers.

For courses leading to a certificate of professionalism, there are access requirements depending on the level: level 1 does not require a qualification; level 2 requires ESO (compulsory secondary education), level 2 key skills or a level 1 certificate from the same family; level 3 requires Bachillerato (post-compulsory secondary education), level 3 key skills, a related FP (vocational training) degree or a level 2 certificate from the family.

Each call may establish priority groups (young people, those over 45, long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, victims of gender violence). Managora checks for you if you meet the requirements of the course or certificate you are interested in.

Yes. Taking an FPE course is compatible with receiving unemployment benefits or subsidies. The training does not make you lose the benefit.

The condition is that you continue to fulfil your obligations as a job seeker: you must inform your employment office that you are going to take the course and you cannot reject a suitable job offer because you are training. If the training is part of your insertion itinerary agreed with the employment service, it strengthens your situation.

Managora coordinates this communication with the employment office so that your benefit is not affected.

The course is free, but you can also apply for grants and financial aid for unemployed students regulated in the state base (Orden TMS/368/2019, which develops RD 694/2017 and Ley 30/2015, modified by Orden TES/1582/2025, of 30 December, in force since 1 February 2026). They cover transport, maintenance, accommodation, work-life balance and, for specific groups, an attendance grant.

The final amounts and deadlines are set each year by the call of your autonomous community, so they can vary from one to another. The attendance grant is reserved for specific groups: €9 per day for unemployed people with disabilities and for victims of domestic violence, and €10 per day for women victims of gender violence. The transport, maintenance, accommodation and work-life balance aids can be requested by the rest of the participants who meet the requirements.

The application is submitted to the regional employment service within the period set by the call, usually during the course or at the end of it. Managora prepares and submits this application for you.

The system is in transition. Ley Orgánica 3/2022, on the organisation and integration of Vocational Training, and Real Decreto 659/2023 unify the FP of the educational system and that of employment into a single system. Certificates of professionalism are integrated as professional certificates (Grade C) within the National Catalogue of Vocational Training Offers.

This change is applied progressively. Certificates of professionalism already issued maintain their permanent validity, so you do not have to renew anything. The name and the structure by grades coexist during the adaptation period.

The funding of the offer and of the grants and aids continues to be governed by Ley 30/2015, RD 694/2017 and Orden TMS/368/2019 (modified by Orden TES/1582/2025, which updates the maximum economic modules and introduces a perception of up to 75% of the daily IPREM for unemployed people in Ceuta and Melilla and priority groups), specified each year in the regional calls.