A recent NCVER publication “Apprentice and trainee outcomes 2022” has reported on the outcomes for apprentices and trainees last year. It found that about 95% of apprentices and trainees who completed their training in a trade occupation were employed after training. Of these, about 68% were with the same employer as their apprenticeship or traineeship.
For those completing training in non-trade occupations, NCVER found that about 89% were employed after training and about 71% were with the same employer as their apprenticeship or traineeship. The employment picture wasn’t that bad for non-completers either, at around 84% for those in both trades and non-trades.
Why did they do an apprenticeship or traineeship? NCVER tells us that, principally, it was because they wanted to work in that type of job or they wanted “to gain a recognised qualification or certificate.”
The story is not that simple though, because, after training, about 75% of trade completers were employed in the same occupational grouping as their apprenticeship or traineeship. However, “a further 12.6% were employed in a different occupational grouping to their apprenticeship/traineeship and the training was relevant. In addition, “19.4% of trade completers employed at the end of May 2022 were actively looking for another job … Of these, 30% were looking for another job because their pay was too low and 22.6% to broaden their knowledge and skills.”
In addition, around 32% of trade completers employed at the end of May 2022 were employed with a different employer to their apprenticeship/traineeship. Of these, about 29% changed employers because they were offered a better job.
Satisfaction with off-the-job training for completers remained steady in 2022, with about 87% of trade completers and 89% of non-trade completers satisfied overall with their off-the-job training. The picture isn’t quite a rosy for the non-completers, though, with satisfaction levels of about 79% for trade non-completers and 69% for non-trade non-completers. Satisfaction with the on the job training was pretty good too for both those in trades and no-trades occupations at just over 89%.
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to ‘work its magic’ on apprentices and trainees, with 15% of trade completers and about 18% of non-trade completers having their on-the-job training delayed. Off-the-job training also took longer than intended for about 32% of trade completers and 22% of non-trade completers because of the pandemic.
The pandemic also increased exposure to online learning. Here, about 64% of trade completers undertook learning online. NCVER reports that, of these:
- “79.4% were satisfied with the support received from teachers/trainers during online learning
- 7% were satisfied with the overall quality of their online experience [but]
- 8% faced at least one challenge with online learning.”
So, why didn’t they complete?
NCVER tells us that trade non-completers did not complete their apprenticeship or traineeship for employment related reasons (about 65%), personal reasons (about 14%) or training related reasons (12.5%). Common reasons apprentices and trainees in trade occupations did not complete their training reported by NCVER were that:
- “they didn’t get on with their boss (13.2%)
- they left job/changed career (8.9%)
- their apprenticeship/traineeship was cancelled/discontinued (8.3%).”
As regular readers will know, there is a drive at present to improve apprentice and trainee completion rates and, as we have reported before, the solutions seem to lie more with employers (about 65% of the issues) than VET providers (about 12 to 13%).
