ESF – Master Craftsman Award NRW

The ESF – Master Craftsman Premium NRW supports journeymen and journeywomen with their main residence in North Rhine-Westphalia who have recently passed a master craftsman examination in a trade according to Annex A or B Section 1 of the Crafts Code. A flat-rate personal grant of 2,500 euros is awarded as a subsidy for private living expenses. Applications are possible exclusively digitally via the ESF application portal from January 1, 2026. To be eligible for funding, the master craftsman certificate must be no older than three months at the time of application, and the residence must have already been in NRW at the time the certificate was issued. Approval is granted in full as a one-time fixed amount funding. The application requires the master craftsman certificate and a fully completed online form. The collected data are processed in accordance with the data protection regulations of the ESF and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

After a positive review, the successful applicant will receive a funding notice within a few weeks, and the payment will be promptly made to the specified bank account. No further accounting is required as part of the proof of use, since this is a fixed amount funding. The ESF – Master Craftsman Premium NRW helps to reduce financial barriers when starting a business or taking over one’s own company and thus sustainably promotes professional development in the craft trades.