From basic course to journeyman exam

The path to the journeyman certificate as a car body technician goes through an alternating education — alternately school and practical training in a company. The entire process is structured around the executive order for car body technician education, which in its latest version contains over 30 specific learning outcomes, from damage assessment to entrepreneurship.

§The basic course — the first steps

The education begins with a basic course, which is divided into two parts, each typically lasting about half a year and taking place at a vocational school. Basic course 1 provides a broad introduction within the technical main area, while basic course 2 is targeted specifically at the car body technician education and prepares the student for the main course. Toward the end of the basic course, the student must choose a specialization and find an apprenticeship in a business before the main course can begin.

§Main course — theory meets practice

In the main course the student is employed as an apprentice at a company and alternates between school periods and practical periods at the workshop. This is where the competence objectives from the decree are really translated into craftsmanship — from basic damage assessment and straightening, through joining and splicing, to more specialised areas such as composite and plastic repair, windscreens, work on electric and hybrid vehicles, and assembly and disassembly of electronic components and safety systems.

• 01Analysis and overall assessment of damage (§ 4, no. 1-3).
• 02Straightening and shaping of body parts (§ 4, nos. 5-8 and 30).
• 03Joining and scarfing including on load-bearing structures (§ 4 no. 9-12).
• 04Repair of composites, plastics and windows (§ 4, no. 13-14).
• 05Work on electrically powered and hybrid vehicles, including battery handling (§ 4, no. 15).
• 06The entrepreneur and self-employment concept if you later want your own business (§ 4, no. 25).

§The EUX path

The education can also be taken as EUX, where the student combines the craft journeyman certificate with a gymnasium exam. This extends the total duration of the education because additional school periods of approximately half a year are interspersed, but it gives direct access to higher education alongside the journeyman certificate.

§The journeyman's exam and the path ahead

The education ends with a journeyman test in which the student demonstrates the practical and theoretical competency built up throughout the course. Afterwards the trade opens up: some specialise further others become workshop foremen or loss adjusters and some eventually choose to start their own business — a possibility which the regulation directly prepares the student for during the education.