Germany plans to scrap its distance learning law

What this is about: a 1977 law meets digital courses

Germany's Distance Learning Protection Act (Fernunterrichtsschutzgesetz, FernUSG) came into force on 1 January 1977. Under section 1, a course counts as distance learning when three conditions are met: knowledge and skills are taught for a fee under a contract, teacher and learner are exclusively or mostly separated in space, and the teacher or someone acting for them monitors your learning success.

If a course meets these conditions, it needs approval from the State Central Office for Distance Learning (Staatliche Zentralstelle für Fernunterricht, ZFU), the authority run jointly by the German states (section 12). A contract for a course without the required approval is void (section 7). On top of that, the law gives learners special rights: your declaration to sign up must be in text form, there is a right of withdrawal, and you can cancel on fixed terms.

How big is the approved market? According to Germany's National Regulatory Control Council (Nationaler Normenkontrollrat, NKR), the ZFU had around 5,000 approved distance courses in November 2025 and just under 30 posts. Estimates of how many courses would actually need approval range from six to seven digits.

What the draft bill plans (status: ministry draft of 17 August 2026)

The Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ) published a ministry draft (Referentenentwurf) titled "Act to Modernise and Reduce Bureaucracy in Distance Learning". The ZFU announced it on 27 August 2026. The core points:

The ministry gives three main reasons. First, an approval procedure for distance learning is a "German special path" within the EU. Second, there is an "enforcement deficit": countless offers would need approval under the case law but do not have it. Third, the procedure costs time and money. The draft puts the yearly relief for businesses at 4.8 million euros and for the state administrations at around 1.1 million euros. It counts around 1,600 approval procedures per year, based on ZFU figures.

The ministry openly states that rights will be lost: the right of withdrawal for contracts signed on business premises and the ordinary right to cancel. In its view this is consistent, because general consumer protection in the German Civil Code (BGB) is now high.

Where things stand on 20 October 2026: This is still a ministry draft. On 7 September 2026 the ZFU stated that the legislative process, including the Bundesrat (the chamber of the German states), is not finished and that the act, including the approval requirement, remains in force. We found no cabinet decision by 20 October 2026. Dates and content can still change in cabinet, in the Bundestag and in the Bundesrat.

What applies until then: the new line of the Federal Court of Justice

Germany's Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) has issued several key rulings since 2025:

• 12 June 2025 (III ZR 109/24): The case concerned a nine-month business mentoring programme for 47,600 euros without approval. The participant had paid 23,800 euros and got the full amount back. The court ruled that online teaching is spatially separated at least when asynchronous parts predominate. Live meetings that are recorded and made available afterwards count as asynchronous. The act also protects business customers, not only consumers.
• 5 February 2026 (III ZR 137/25): The court narrowed the act. Teacher and learner only count as separated when the teaching and the learner's access happen at different times. Live teaching with two-way, real-time communication is not distance learning in this sense. Which share predominates depends on the individual case.
• 5 February 2026 (III ZR 74/25): The court was not convinced that the approval requirement and the nullity of contracts are unconstitutional. In its view there are good reasons that they are constitutional. It also pointed out that a refund can be reduced if the provider can claim compensation for the value of the services delivered.
• 12 February 2026 (III ZR 73/25): For coaching and mentoring, the focus of the contract decides: teaching knowledge or individual advice and support. A contractual right to ask questions about the material is enough to count as monitoring of learning success. What matters is how much time the asynchronous modules and workbooks take compared with the live sessions, and whether live sessions are mandatory or can be replaced by recordings. The provider may have to explain the format in court.

What this means in practice:

• A pure live course without recordings that replace the sessions is usually not distance learning.
• A programme made mainly of videos, modules and recordings, with a right to ask questions, will often need approval.
• A coaching programme whose focus is individual advice tends not to fall under the act.
• Even if a contract is void, you do not automatically get everything back. The provider may claim the value of its services, but has to prove it. In the June 2025 case the provider failed to do so, and the participant got the full 23,800 euros back.

What changes for you if the draft becomes law

The refund lever disappears. For contracts from 1 July 2027, a missing approval would no longer make the contract void.

Cancellation depends on the contract. For standard terms in contracts with regular services, the general rules of the BGB limit the initial term to a maximum of two years. Automatic renewals are only allowed for an indefinite period with a notice period of no more than one month (section 309 no. 9 BGB). The NKR had recommended moving the cancellation right of the distance learning act into the BGB. The draft does not do this.

Withdrawal stays. For online contracts you can withdraw within 14 days without giving reasons (section 355 BGB). Since 19 June 2026, providers that sell online must offer a clearly labelled withdrawal button during the withdrawal period (section 356a BGB).

Open question for existing contracts. The draft contains no explicit rule on which contract rights continue for contracts signed before 1 July 2027. Keep all documents.

International providers. The NKR notes that the approval requirement is in practice not enforced against providers abroad, especially outside the EU. The ministry calls this discrimination against domestic providers. For you this means: the ZFU check never covered all offers.

Who says what: the debate about the draft

• German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), statement of 10 September 2026: It fears that the quality of courses that previously needed approval will "deteriorate rapidly". It wants a real modernisation instead of abolition and, in the long run, a statutory quality framework for digital continuing education. It also criticises the loss of the cancellation right.
• Digital association Bitkom, statement of September 2026: It welcomes the end of the approval regime. For long, costly courses leading to a vocational or state-recognised qualification without any other quality check, it calls for targeted, risk-based instruments.
• National Regulatory Control Council, position paper of 6 November 2025: It recommended abolishing the act, but keeping the cancellation rules in the BGB. In its view, a didactic quality check like the one the ZFU does should be voluntary.

Distance courses with upgrade training funding: new rules planned

Many people in Germany finance courses for qualifications such as master craftsman or certified business specialist with upgrade training funding (Aufstiegs-BAföG). Because the approval disappears, the draft rewrites the funding rules:

• Courses with up to half of their time on an online platform remain eligible if they are combined with classroom teaching and regular performance checks.
• Pure distance courses remain eligible as part-time courses if there are at least 18 teaching hours or equivalent learning material each month. In months without teaching, a performance check marked by a teacher is required. A purely automated self-test without individual feedback is not enough.
• Regular participation means 70 percent of the attendance hours or performance checks.
• For pure distance courses, course and exam fees are to be funded up to a total of 10,000 euros. Under a separate reform adopted by the cabinet on 15 July 2026, the general maximum is to rise from 15,000 to 18,000 euros from 1 August 2027.

Your checklist: what to do now

Before you book (until mid-2027)

1. Check the approval number: Approved courses carry an approval number and the ZFU seal. You can look them up in the ZFU course search. Keep in mind: the approval checks whether the course can reach its goal, not whether it offers the best possible quality, and it is not state recognition of a qualification.
2. Read the programme description: How much is live, how much is recorded? Can recordings replace live sessions? Are you promised the right to ask questions?
3. Check the price and cancellation clause: Prefer payment in instalments or by module over paying for the whole programme upfront.
4. Save everything: Programme description, contract, withdrawal notice and screenshots of the offer.

If you have already booked

• Withdrawal: According to the ZFU, the 14-day period for distance courses starts with the first delivery of learning material. If the withdrawal notice is missing or incorrect, the right extends by 12 months.
• Cancellation: Under section 5 of the act you can cancel first at the end of the first six months with six weeks' notice, then at any time with three months' notice. Cancellation must be in text form. The ZFU recommends a registered letter.
• Missing approval: If your course needed approval and had none, you may have a refund claim. Get legal advice, because the provider can claim compensation for its services. The ZFU does not represent individual participants.

From 1 July 2027 (if the law is passed)

• Prefer offers that you can cancel monthly or book module by module.
• Check the term and renewal clauses against the limits in section 309 no. 9 BGB.
• Use the withdrawal button within 14 days if a course does not deliver what it promised.

Conclusion: less bureaucracy, more personal responsibility

The planned reform ends a state approval that many providers avoided anyway. For you, this means more choice and probably fewer legal grey areas. At the same time, you lose an automatic safety net: the nullity of unapproved contracts and a guaranteed cancellation right. Until the law is passed, the old rules and the new BGH rulings apply. If you book now, check the approval number and the ratio of live to recorded teaching. If you book later, read the cancellation clause before you pay.