Apprentices and trainees

NCVER Collection

About the National Apprentice and Trainee Collection

This collection provides data on all persons employed under a training contract and includes both apprentices and trainees.

Data are collected from state training authorities on training activity in apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia, including information on training rates and duration of training. Records submitted include information on the following:

  • people who have participated in an apprenticeship/traineeship training contract, including their demographics, schooling and prior education and cultural and language attributes
  • all training contract transactions – including each commencement, cancellation, withdrawal, completion or expiry associated with the life of the apprenticeship/traineeship training contract
  • each employer participating in an apprenticeship/traineeship training contract
  • each program undertaken as part of the apprenticeship/traineeship training contract
  • each registered training organisation associated with an apprenticeship/traineeship training contract.

Information is collected from the apprenticeship/traineeship training contract completed by the employer and employee. The data are downloaded by each state training authority, which supply additional data and report to NCVER using the AVETMISS validation software. Data are extracted from local systems and submitted on a quarterly cumulative basis. For more information see our VET statistics explained page.

Data products

Please select the appropriate tool depending on whether you are a general, regular or expert user of data.


General users

Have a basic understanding of data.

Supporting documentation is available from the Latest release page.

linking to the most recent release of apprentices and trainees quarterly information link to the pdf of the terms and definitions for apprentices and trainees data link to access the historical time series of apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia infographiclink to access the latest completion and attrition rates for apprentices and trainees publication


Regular users

Can understand tables and manipulate data.

link to access the DataBuilder tool for apprentices and trainees quarterly data link to access data tables of the historical time series of apprenticeships and traineeships in australia link to access state and territory data tables on the completion and attrition rates for apprentices and trainees


Expert users

Have a sophisticated understanding of data and its uses, including items and concepts.

Note: Access to this detailed data in VOCSTATS is free but requires registration.

link to access VOCSTATS an interactive database that allows the user to construct their own tables. Registration is required. link to access the latest apprentices and trainees quarterly estimates review dashboard pagelink to information on how to request access to de-identified unit record files (DURFS) from NCVER

Data services

If you can't find what you need from the above tools, we may be able to provide you with customised data to meet your requirements. This service will be charged on a cost recovery basis.

For more information, see Services and charges: data and library information.

Related information

external link to the further research on apprentices and trainees external link to further research on work-based and work-based integrated learning

Superseded publications

Superseded publications from this collection may be accessed through the VOCEDplus database.