Free SOC courses Catalonia: who can join and how to apply

In short: the free SOC courses Catalonia offers are listed in the course finder of the Servei Públic d'Ocupació de Catalunya (SOC, the Catalan employment service), with pre-enrolment. To take a SOC course you must be registered as a job seeker at an Oficina de Treball, and if you are a non-EU foreigner that registration requires a document recognising your right to work. According to an answer from the SOC itself in 2024, its training offer is subsidised, except for the private professional certificates that some entities also run.

What the SOC offers. The SOC training page gathers vocational training for unemployed people, continuous training for people who work, professional certificates, alternating training contracts and grants and aid. The integrated course finder lets you search by course or specialty, by county or municipality and by professional family (27 in total), and filter those that lead to a professional certificate. Each course page has a pre-enrolment tab. The finder also includes a search for training entities and centres.

Cost. In an answer in its FAQ, updated on 21.05.2024, the SOC says its whole training offer is subsidised, except for the private professional certificates that some of its entities also run. That page answers questions about the previous arraigo regime; we use it only for this general statement. The SOC's general pages about the courses do not state the price, so check on the course's page that there is no enrolment fee. The SOC also has a grants and aid section: look there for which calls are open.

Who can join, by your situation. According to the SOC, you must be registered as a job seeker at an Oficina de Treball. According to its registration page, the first registration can be done online if you have a DNI. People with a NIE linked to a residence authorisation can request it by calling the SOC, whose number is on that page, or in person at the Oficina de Treball, where the SOC recommends going with an appointment. The proof is called DARDO in Catalan and DARDE in Spanish. How to do it in general is in registering as a job seeker as a foreigner. What changes is the document that proves your right to work:

• You live in Spain with a work authorisation: yes. You present that document when you register (arts. 7.1.d and 9.1.b of Royal Decree 438/2024).
• You have temporary protection (for example, Ukrainians): yes. The decision that grants it includes the residence and work authorisation (art. 5.1 of Order PCM/169/2022). Card: how to apply for temporary protection.
• You are an asylum seeker: not at first. You may work 6 months after the date of your application if it was admitted for processing and is still unresolved for reasons not your fault. It is shown by the entry «autoriza a trabajar» (additional provision 14 of Royal Decree 1155/2024). Card: how to claim asylum.
• You are in the extraordinary regularisation (RD 316/2026): the pages reviewed do not say whether the SOC accepts the regularisation document for registration. Ask at the Oficina de Treball.
• You have no work authorisation: no to these courses. What does exist (adult education, NGOs, online courses) is in free courses without papers.
• You are applying for or hold arraigo socioformativo: see the next section.

Prior studies and language. Level 1 of a professional certificate sets no academic or professional requirements, but it does ask for enough communication skills to learn. Level 2 asks, among other routes, for the ESO school-leaving certificate or equivalent, and level 3, a Bachiller, Técnico or equivalent title (art. 75 of Royal Decree 659/2023). If you cannot prove your studies, the SOC explains on its professional certificates page that entities run key-competence tests during selection. In 2024 the SOC said that anyone without the language to follow a course must take language training first, like any other student. For Spanish, see free Spanish classes. For Catalan, the Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística offers courses across Catalonia.

Arraigo socioformativo: how the SOC puts it into practice. The national rule is that the course promoted by the employment service can only start once you hold the granted arraigo and the NIE, are registered as a «demandante de servicios previos al empleo» (the job-seeker category for pre-employment services) and the training action is scheduled and authorised. To apply for the arraigo, an admission request for a training in Annex II is enough, and you cannot hold this arraigo more than once in 3 years (fifth instruction of Instrucciones SEM 1/2025). Details in courses for arraigo socioformativo and in the arraigo socioformativo guide. Catalonia is the only region where we found an official page explaining how it is put into practice. On its page on arraigo socioformativo and in its FAQ, the SOC asks you to state the training in section 6 of the EX-10 form, with three options:

• Option 10, «Obtención de certificado profesional»: the full training (neither modular nor partial) for a professional certificate of level 1, 2 or 3. It is taught by an entity listed in the State Register of Training Entities: a partner centre of the SOC or of the Consorci, or a centre of the Departament d'Educació. You request admission and the entity gives you a document proving it: without it you cannot apply for the arraigo. According to the SOC, you cannot start this training either until you have the arraigo resolution and are registered at an Oficina de Treball. The SOC publishes a template of that document in its FAQ.
• Option 11, «Formación promovida por los Servicios Públicos de Empleo en España»: training promoted by the SOC and by the Consorci per a la Formació Contínua de Catalunya for occupations in the hard-to-fill catalogue. You state it in the application, but you cannot take it until you have the arraigo resolution and are registered at an Oficina de Treball.
• Option 9, «educación secundaria postobligatoria»: bachillerato, mid-level FP, mid-level artistic and sports education, FP specialisation courses and compulsory education for adults. You must be enrolled or studying it.

For any of the three, the SOC asks for a specific course, with its entity, length and planned start date, not a sector such as hospitality. Other rules the SOC lists:

• After approval you have 3 months to submit the proof of enrolment; otherwise the authorisation may be extinguished (art. 127.d of RD 1155/2024 and Hoja 30).
• If the course you named is no longer available, no new application is needed: with the resolution and your registration at the Oficina de Treball you can sign up for another course, even if it is not the one in the application.
• You cannot register with the SOC with just the arraigo application filed: the resolution is required.
• The SOC does not process the permit. It is an Immigration Office procedure independent of its calls, and the person files it themselves.
• According to the SOC, you do not need a work contract or proof of financial means to apply.

Where to file the arraigo application. Information sheet 30 of the Ministry of Inclusion, from April 2026, says it is filed in person at the Immigration Office of your province. In its FAQ, the SOC says it can also be done online with idCAT, which you get with a passport, or with an appointment at the Immigration Office. As the two sources do not agree, follow Hoja 30 and ask the Immigration Office whether they accept online filing.

If you live in Barcelona. The SAIER (Servei d'Atenció a Immigrants, Emigrants i Refugiats) is a free public municipal service for people who live in the city. It includes training and employment guidance and advice. You book an appointment on the City Council's portal, and the first assessment is by phone. We have not confirmed that it offers specific courses.

Courses by trade and other routes. If you already know which job you want, see the guides by profession: social and health care, forklift operator, hospitality and cleaning. If you have worked in a trade for years and have no qualification, see accrediting skills through work experience. For the wider picture there are free SEPE courses for unemployed people and courses and training to improve your employability. If you live in the Spanish capital, see free courses Community of Madrid.

Documents

• ID document with NIE (or DNI): required to register as a job seeker.
• If you are not from the EU, the document that proves your right to work: TIE with a work authorisation, the temporary protection decision, or the asylum applicant document with the entry «autoriza a trabajar». Confirm which one your Oficina de Treball accepts.
• Proof of your job seeker registration (DARDO or DARDE).
• For arraigo socioformativo: the EX-10 with the specific course and, for a professional certificate, the entity's document proving your admission request.
• Whatever each course asks for: the list varies, check the course's page.

Steps:

1. Check your requirements: NIE or TIE and, if you are not from the EU, the right to work.
2. Register as a job seeker with the SOC: online with a DNI, or by phone or with an appointment at the Oficina de Treball if you have a NIE.
3. Find the course in the SOC course finder.
4. Ask for pre-enrolment from the course's page.
5. Finish the course and ask for your professional certificate, diploma or attendance certificate.

🎓 Want to add skills to your CV while you wait for a place? Alison offers online courses with its own certificate. It is not a certificado de profesionalidad and does not count for arraigo (🤝 our partner).

Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.