Pre-Apprenticeships and Their Impact on Apprenticeship Completion and Satisfaction. Occasional Paper

Pre-apprenticeship programs have generated interest recently from government, employers and other stakeholders in the training system as one means of improving apprenticeship completion rates and thereby ameliorating skill shortages. However, there has not yet been any research which establishes that pre-apprenticeship programs actually increase apprentice satisfaction and completion rates. This report uses data from the 2010 National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) Apprentice and Trainee Destination Survey and finds that there is no universal benefit attached to undertaking a pre-apprenticeship. Instead, the impact of pre-apprenticeships varies with occupation and prior education level. Key messages from this study are: (1) Pre-apprenticeships lead to only a modest increase in satisfaction with job-related aspects of apprenticeships (but not off-the-job training aspects); (2) Pre-apprenticeships increase the likelihood of completion for apprentices in the construction, food and electro-technology trades and those with a Year 10 or Year 12 level of education; (3) Pre-apprenticeships reduce the likelihood of completing an apprenticeship for hairdressers and apprentices in the automotive and engineering trades and for those people who already have a certificate III or higher qualification. This suggests that the design of pre-apprenticeships is important; and (4) In general, apprentices who have undertaken a pre-apprenticeship are less likely to discontinue their training because they did not like the type of work or training, but this does not translate into a higher likelihood of completion. Appendices include: (1) Apprentice and Trainee Destination Survey; (2) Tables; (3) Factor analysis--satisfaction; (4) Likelihood of completing an apprenticeship or traineeship; and (5) Reason for not completing an apprenticeship or traineeship. (Contains 18 tables, 2 figures and 6 footnotes.)