Research

Summary page

Research

Project no: nr1026

Publication title: Learning and training in school-based new apprenticeships

This project set out to examine learning and training in school-based apprenticeships and traineeships. Surveys were sent to a sample of school-based new apprentices (SBNAs) in the three states with the highest numbers: Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. In all, the 641 responses represented almost 12% of all SBNAs in those three states.

Those students undertaking school-based new apprenticeships were found to be more likely than average to be living outside a capital city and less likely to aspire to immediate university entrance than other students. There was some evidence that they were drawn disproportionately from students of a lower socio-economic status. Most were trainees rather than apprentices, undergoing shorter contracts of training and undertaking qualifications at Certificate II level.

Students’ motivation for undertaking an SBNA was found to be primarily to gain the associated qualification or to gain specific experience in an industry area. Some said that they found the prospect of the mix of work and study attractive. A small group undertook an SBNA primarily to help get part-time work while at university. Generally the students had found out about school-based new apprenticeships through school. This was particularly so for those who were working for Group Training Companies rather than directly for an employer. Exactly half of the SBNAs were working in retail or fast food, cafes and restaurants; and farming, forestry and mining accounted for almost 11%.

The number of hours spent at work differed very little from the average for normal part-time work for Australian school students. The average number of hours worked was 10.5 per week. More than half of the students worked extra hours in the school holidays and many undertook ‘blocks’ of off-the-job training in the holidays, too. Some students undertook all their work outside school hours while others missed school time. This quite often created severe timetabling difficulties and many did not receive much help from their schools in resolving the difficulties. However, few students found it difficult to fit study in as well as work, in a more general sense.

Most students were very satisfied with their jobs although the degree of satisfaction varied with industry area. They were more likely than students in ordinary part-time jobs to enjoy their job, to have the close attention of a supervisor, to work with adults rather than other teenagers, and to have higher levels of responsibility. The comparisons with ordinary part-time jobs were made on the basis of results from a previous study by the research team.

Learning outcomes reported by school-based new apprentices were greater on several measures than those reported by ordinary part-time workers. These included development of generic skills, amount of formal training given, and the extent to which the young people felt clear about their workplace tasks. It was found that the links between workplace learning and school were greater than for students undertaking ordinary part-time work.

Off-the-job training was generally seen by the SBNAs to add to their learning, in both theoretical and practical ways. Most, however, preferred on-the-job to off-the-job training. Some students had complaints about their training providers. Schools scored lower than other training providers on some measures, as did distance and online learning. About a quarter of the SBNAs were undertaking fully on-the-job apprenticeships and traineeships. Retail and fast food were more likely to be on-the-job than other industry areas.

While the overall findings of the study were very positive, the authors identified a number of issues. These included:

• the low number of hours worked when compared with the total number of hours normally involved in the completion of a traineeship or apprenticeship

• the possible consequences for student well-being of spending school holidays catching up working hours or attending a training provider

• the concentration of SBNAs in those industries which are also the most common site of ordinary part-time work

• the evidence of poor quality of training provision by some Registered Training Organisations

• timetabling problems and the seeming unwillingness of some schools to offer solutions.