The latest release of national apprentice and trainee data shows an increase in trade commencements for the September 2017 quarter, up 4.2% to 15 200 when compared with the September 2016 quarter. The increase comes despite a 3.2% decline in trade commencements for the 12 month period ending 30 September 2017.
Apprentices and trainees 2017 — September quarter, published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), provides a national picture of apprenticeship and traineeship activity and includes both quarterly and annual figures that can be broken down by state and territory.
The report shows the biggest trade commencement increases for the September 2017 quarter were seen in automotive and engineering (up 16.8%) and construction trades workers (up 5.5%).
Non-trade commencements decreased by 5.7% in the September 2017 quarter when compared with 2016, contributing to a total decrease in trade and non-trade commencements of 1.9%. The biggest declines in non-trade commencements were seen in sales assistants and salespersons (down 23.3%) and hospitality workers (down 17.4%).
Overall there were 261 900 apprentices and trainees in-training as at 30 September 2017, a decrease of 5.6% from 30 September 2016.
The report Australian vocational education and training statistics: Apprentices and trainees 2017 — September quarter is available from www.ncver.edu.au/publications. A range of related data products, including an interactive infographic and data slicer, are included with this release.
Two innovative new tools for use in analysing and comparing apprentice and trainee data are also now available.
The Apprentices and trainees estimates review dashboard, released last month, allows users to quickly compare NCVER’s published estimates against the eventual final counts that emerge. The dashboard will be updated and released along with the apprentice and trainee data each quarter.
The Apprentice and trainee outcomes tool, released today, is an interactive visualisation tool that presents data from NCVER’s National Apprentice and Trainee Collection and the National Student Outcomes Survey to provide users with information on apprentice and trainee trends and post-training outcomes.
This work has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.
Media enquiries: Helen Wildash, PR and Social Media Officer
P: +61 8 8230 8418 M: 0448 043 148 E: communications@ncver.edu.au