News item | 26-05-2026 | 4:30 PM
As of today, employers can again apply for a SLIM training subsidy for training their employees. A total of €4 million will be available for individual applications in 2026. Applications can be submitted until December 31, 2026. Collective applications are possible from September 1 to October 16, 2026.
What has changed?
The arrangement for the SLIM training subsidy has been adjusted and clarified on several points. All changes are stated in the amendment regulations. Important changes are:
- The understanding training package is further explained. This makes it clearer which training is eligible for a subsidy.
- The understanding employer has been expanded to include partnership fishermen (crew members in a fishing partnership). Marine fishing companies fulfill a coordinating role for education, training and development of individual crew members on board cutters. This form of partnership has been classified as an employer, given the specific working conditions of crews on sea fishing vessels.
- The conditions for eligible courses have been clarified. Training is not eligible for a subsidy if it has already been purchased or applied for before it became eligible for the first time. The invoice date is decisive.
- Optional components now have a fixed subsidy percentage of 90%. The training packages have been adjusted as of May 22, 2026. This has already been communicated about via e-mail news item from UVB.
- Market conformity no longer needs to be demonstrated for publicly funded OCW-recognized courses. These training courses also no longer need to be included in quotation procedures.
- For collective applications, the project period will from now on automatically start on the first day of the application period in which the application was submitted.
- Central municipalities can participate in a collective on behalf of a labor market region with a declaration of intent, instead of only through a cooperation agreement. Signing a declaration of intent or a collaboration agreement is at least required as confirmation of participation in the collective. In this way, the central municipality confirms with which sector(s) cooperation is being established to implement the subsidy.
- For publicly financed employers, their own resources come from public resources and are seen as the employer’s own resources. An example of this are OCW-funded educational institutions that are financed by the government through lump sum financing and OCW subsidy schemes such as the Lateral Entry into the Profession subsidy scheme. This was already implicit in the regulation text, but has now been made more explicit in the explanatory notes to the regulation.
- Assessable files for a NLQF classification application are no longer eligible from August 21, 2026. Until March 31, courses with an assessable file could be registered with Policy Implementation (UVB). Training courses that have been reported to UVB before March 31 and are eligible will be included in the training package that will be determined on May 22, 2026. This means that training courses with an assessable file can only be included in the training package again if there is a positive NLQF classification decision. For more information you can also visit the website of the NCP NLQF.
Extra support on the new UVB website
The Policy Implementation (UVB) website has been updated and made more user-friendly. Employers can now find it there too a step-by-step plan for applying for a subsidy. In addition, the questions and answers renewed and classified for 4 target groups:
- individual employers;
- education employers;
- collectives;
- trainers.
More information
More information about the scheme can be found on the website website of Policy Implementation and on Overheid.nl.
