Pathways to apprenticeships

The initial purpose of this report was to map, at least in part, the establishment and development of pre-apprenticeships in Australia. Because of the lack of existing literature on this topic, this aim was unable to be completely met. However, the report does provide a descriptive analysis of recent pre-apprenticeship provision across Australia, together with the findings from interviews with participants in, and providers of, pre-apprenticeship programs and the identification of the role that pre-apprenticeship programs might have in overall Australian VET provision. The report findings are based on an analysis of National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) vocational education and training (VET) statistical data supplemented by information obtained through focus groups with students and interviews with trainers and training experts and representatives from industry. Findings include: that there is no fail-safe method for accurate determination of the total number of enrolments in pre-apprenticeship courses; that there is a wide variation in pre-apprenticeship courses across Australia; that pre-apprenticeship courses do not seem to be widely known in the community or among school career advisers; that students had concerns about lack of financial support; and that many industry and training contacts held the view that changing lifestyles were having a negative impact on the capacity of young people to enter apprenticeships and that involvement in pre-apprenticeships could remedy this deficit. The researchers concluded that pre-apprenticeships can be an important component in a range of policies designed to encourage greater participation in traditional trade training. Show less