You can ask for your employer to pay for your course, using options like the CPF (Compte Personnel de formation, or personal training account) or NFE.

For general information, please visit the Ministère du Travail et de l'Emploi website.

You can also get in touch with Human Resources within your company or contact dedicated agents by visiting this page.

Please note, the DIF scheme has been replaced by the CPF (Compte Personnel de Formation) from January 2015.

How many CPF hours am I entitled to?

You cumulate 24 training hours per year until you reach a maximum of 120 hours, then you earn 12 hours a year until you reach a ceiling amount of 150 hours.

In order to find out how many hours you have accumulated under the CPF scheme (or for a different scheme), you should contact the Human Resources department of your workplace, or the government employment agency (Pôle emploi) if you are currently unemployed.

For more information, you may wish to refer to the CPF page on the French government's employment and training portal.

Who should make the request?

In every case, it is the employee who is responsible for making the request:

  • the choice of training is confirmed in writing by the employee and the employer
  • the employer has a month to reply to the employee's request
  • or you can do your application for CPF directly online.

What is the procedure for an employer to finance my courses?

  1. Book a free consultation back by one of our teachers for a free English level test. 
  2. Send completed and signed registration form, along with a payment covering the administration charge. (Please note that this payment is not reimbursed, even if your request for financing is refused by your employer or training organisation.)
  3. After you have filled in our Information Form with details of your employer or training body, we will give you a 'Request for financing', which will need to be accepted and validated by your HR department or training organisation and returned to us within 14 days, and always before the classes start. 

Your registration for the course at British Council will be confirmed once we have received all the completed and validated documents:

  • the enrolment form
  • payment for the administration fees (except for jobseekers pending justification)
  • the signed version of your 'request for financing'.

We will be delighted to welcome you as one of our students.

Who pays for the courses?

Your course can be paid by your employer / sponsoring agency or the government employment agency Pôle emploi.

If the amount agreed by the employer or training body is less than the full price of the course, you will be asked to pay the remainder before the course starts.

Please note: public sponsoring only covers attended courses; if you miss some lessons, these will be invoiced to you directly at the end of the course.

See also

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