UWV is moving the STAP training budget submission round to March 17. On Tuesday, there was a major outage as a result of which no one could apply for a €1,000 benefit.

Each year there are a number of registration times for the popular scheme, where you can queue up online beforehand. According to the UWV, 300,000 people were waiting before the game kicked off on Tuesday, twice the usual number.

The agency says the error occurred due to “a combination of a technical error and large crowds”. “We are very sorry for that and we apologize again for it,” says Ronald van Zegb, STAP National Director at the UWV.

“Of course we immediately tried to fix the problem, but it soon became apparent that this wasn’t going to work. We had to make the decision to move the opening.”

Because of the great popularity of the support, people often catch behind the net in the past year when they want to advance. The previous STAP budget submission round was also postponed because the Ministry of Social Affairs first wanted to take measures against abuse.

For example, coaches handed out gifts or took their students on an excursion. This is no longer permitted under the new rules. From now on, instructors may accept no more than 300 course participants per year.