Attrition rates are declining for trainees but not for trade apprentices according to new data released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Completion and attrition rates for apprentices and trainees 2011.
Contract attrition rates decreased from 38.3% for trainees who started in 2008 to a projected 33.0% for those who started in 2011. By contrast, attrition rates for trade apprentices are shown to be largely stable, increasing only slightly from 50.3% for those who started in 2007 to a projected 50.8% for those who started in 2011.
“We know completion rates vary by industry and there are many reasons why apprentices and trainees do not finish their apprenticeships,” said Ms Sandra Pattison, General Manager, Statistics, NCVER.
“Apprentice completion rates can be influenced by the employer’s economic circumstances and the apprentice’s individual personal circumstances and choices.”
Looking at individual completion rates, which take into account apprentices and trainees moving between employers, there is no difference between trainees and trade apprentices, with completion rates around 55% for both groups for 2007 commencements.
Also released today by NCVER is Apprentices and trainees 2011: annual—a yearly summary of training activity, including training rates.
This publication shows that 3.9% of all Australian workers were employed as an apprentice or trainee at December 2011. Within the trades, 11.9% of workers were employed as a trade apprentice at December 2011, compared to 9.5% in 2001.
Copies of Completion and attrition rates for apprentices and trainees 2011 are available from VOCEDplus.
Copies of Apprentices and trainees 2011: annual are available from VOCEDplus.
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