Research

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Research

Accelerated apprenticeships: Apprentice, employer and teaching staff perceptions - by Victor J Callan

Australia’s continued buoyant economy means that demand for skilled workers in many occupations is outstripping supply. To remedy this imbalance federal and state governments are implementing various strategies. These include raising levels of skilled migration, programs to improve the basic skills of people without formal qualiﬁcations and accelerated apprenticeships. The last of these is the subject of this report.

While apprenticeships are a readily identiﬁable way to meet skills needs, there are concerns that current models are not delivering, with high non-completion rates in some industries and a general difﬁculty in attracting apprentices. Accelerated apprenticeships, which reduce the typical four-year duration of a trade apprenticeship, may address some of these issues.

Accelerated apprenticeships: Apprentice, employer and teaching staff perceptions by Victor Callan focuses on pilots of accelerated apprenticeships in the automotive trades in Queensland. Callan examined the perceptions of apprentices, employers and teachers of the strengths and shortcomings of both traditional and accelerated approaches.

Key messages

The traditional model of apprenticeship training is still well regarded. It is not failing but it does need to evolve to remain useful and relevant.

In the automotive industry, at least, the establishment of certiﬁcate II training within the certiﬁcate III is a key aspect of the design of accelerated apprenticeships.

– This allows students willing to do repetitive service tasks, and who may prefer to exit their training early, to do so with an industry qualiﬁcation that matches an essential element of the trade.

Accelerated models offer obvious beneﬁts but they will usually be more expensive, imposing additional costs as well as pressures upon apprentices, employers and trainers.

To achieve results in shorter time frames, accelerated apprenticeships must incorporate innovative up-front training; intensive pre-apprenticeship training; the full application of recognition of prior learning; intensive forms of off-the-job-delivery; and industry investment in workplace mentors.

Readers interested in employment-based learning models should also see Effective models of employer-based training by Sarojni Choy et al. (NCVER 2008).

Tom Karmel
Managing Director, NCVER