Apprenticeships and traineeships
Learn about apprenticeships and traineeships, school-based traineeships and pre-vocational courses, the national training package, the benefits and changes with employing an apprentice or trainee.
Visit the Apprenticeships Info website for the latest information on apprenticeships and traineeships.
Download the Apprenticeship/traineeship training and induction kit [PDF 952kb]
What is an apprenticeship?
What is a traineeship?
What is a school based traineeship and pre-vocational course?
What is a national training package?
Benefits of apprenticeships and/or traineeships
What has changed about employing an apprentice or trainee?
What is an apprenticeship?
As defined by the Department of Education, Training and the Arts (DETA), 'an apprenticeship is a structured course of training combined with employment for people to gain a recognised trade qualification'.
What is a traineeship?
As defined by DETA, 'a traineeship allows people to access vocational training combined with employment which leads to an occupational outcome rather than a trade'. This means that, through traineeships, learners acquire skills that greatly improve their chances of getting and keeping a job.
What is a school based traineeship and pre-vocational course?
Aimed at current students or new school leavers, this form of training prepares young people with the transitional skills required for the workforce in apprenticeship or traineeship areas.
What is a national training package?
A national training package is a consistent and reliable set of nationally endorsed standards and qualifications for recognising and assessing people's skills in a given industry. A Training Package describes what skills and knowledge you need to perform effectively in the workplace without prescribing how you should be trained.
Each training package:
- enables qualifications to be awarded through the direct assessment of competencies
- encourages the development and delivery of training which suits individual needs and
- encourages learning in a work environment and off-the-job.
Training packages have now been completed for many industries.
Benefits of apprenticeships and/or traineeships
Apprentices and trainees bring long-term benefits to your workforce. These include:
- having a team with nationally-recognised qualifications, which is well trained and demonstrates a diversity of skills
- ensuring the employment of staff who are familiar with the work ethos of your company and the working environment, and ensuring a customer-focus is maintained
- increased business growth and profits because you have ensured your staff are highly skilled and abreast with industry developments and
- ensuring your workforce has accredited standards necessary for business development in domestic and overseas markets.
What has changed about employing an apprentice or trainee?
As an employer you can now:
- recruit the apprentice or trainee
- select the training provider
- decide on the training course and
- negotiate on the way training is delivered to suit your requirements.
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