Traditional trade apprenticeships: training activity, employer incentives and international practice

This report is the first part of a larger study aiming to investigate traditional apprenticeship practices with a view to developing policy directions for how to keep them relevant and useful. In this report we present trends in commencements for the traditional trades for the period 2002 to 2018. Non-trade apprenticeships or traineeships are out of scope of this study. We define eight groups of traditional trades: building; electrotechnology and telecommunications; engineering; food trades; motor mechanic, repairer and vehicle builder trades; other traditional trades; precision trades; and skilled animal and horticultural workers. It finds that trends in commencements rise and fall in line with fluctuations in the economy. The availability of employer incentives have also affected the quantum of apprenticeships. The lessons we can learn from overseas have to do with the amount of prescription in what is expected from in-company training, integration of in-company and off-the-job training, and the qualifications of teachers and workplace supervisors. There are also insights we can gain from the practice of involving competent bodies in practical assessments.

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