More than half of the apprentices and trainees who started in Australia in 2020 never made it to the end, with National Centre for Vocational Education Research figures showing 52 per cent failed to complete their training within the expected four years. The same data set shows the number of apprenticeship and traineeship contracts in progress fell 8.6 per cent in the year to December 2025, with non-trade contracts down 17.1 per cent.
The figures were reported by ABC News, which spoke to researchers pointing to low pay, patchy mentoring, rigid training timetables and long travel times in the regions as the drivers behind the attrition. The NCVER is the national body that collects apprenticeship and traineeship data.
One detail should sting anyone running a crew: among apprentices who left before completing, about 85 per cent said something could have helped them finish. The most common answer was a change to their job or their workplace.
”An apprenticeship is a job, and people leave jobs”
Federation University emeritus professor Erica Smith said the reasons apprentices walk are usually found on site, not in the classroom.
“When you look at the data on why people don’t complete, they say it’s to do with the job, not to do with the training,” Professor Smith said.
“An apprenticeship is a job, and people leave jobs.”
She said the national figures only give broad reasons and don’t capture what an apprentice actually experiences day to day, or the thing that finally tips them into handing back the tools.
“I’ve recommended much better data be collected from apprentices to find out: are they happy, why are they happy, why aren’t they happy, what’s bothering them?” she said.
Professor Smith argued the whole conversation has been pitched at workforce demand rather than at the individual doing the four years.
“There’s actually a person there,” she said. “Let’s think about apprenticeships as being for people.”
Money, mentoring and the timetable
Kira Clarke, who leads employment, education and training policy at the Brotherhood of St Laurence, said the pressure comes from several directions at once.
“There’s a number of reasons for this, low wages, inflexible delivery timelines and rigid structures, and also inconsistent readiness of employers to support and mentor apprentices,” Ms Clarke said.
That last one is the part the industry controls. A first-year who spends two years sweeping, humping materials and holding the dumb end of the tape without anyone explaining why the job is set out that way is an apprentice waiting for a better offer.
Ms Clarke also said a lot of young people sign up without much idea of what else was on the table.
“For a lot of young people, the visibility they have to the types of jobs they might be interested in is often quite limited to what jobs their family do, what their teachers have told them about what their immediate circle of friends and community are doing,” she said.
“There’s a lot of anxiety about, ‘Am I making the right choice for the type of job that I think I’ll enjoy?’”
What a walk-out costs the boss who trained them
Every builder who’s carried an apprentice knows the shape of the deal. The first year is a straight cost: you’re paying wages, supervision time and TAFE release for someone who can’t yet be left alone on a task. The return arrives in years three and four, when they can set out a frame, run a wall of blocking or chase a job through to lock-up without you standing over them.
When the contract falls over before then, the employer eats the investment and starts again from zero with the next first-year. Do that twice and you’ve spent the better part of a decade on training with nothing on the truck to show for it.
The contract numbers say the pipeline is thinning while that’s happening. Non-trade contracts took the heaviest hit at 17.1 per cent, well ahead of the 8.6 per cent overall fall, so the trade side isn’t carrying the whole decline. It’s still a shrinking pool of people coming through, at a time when most builders can’t get a chippy on short notice.
Apprentice pay rates are set under the relevant modern award and vary by trade, year of the apprenticeship and whether the apprentice finished Year 12. Employers can check the current rates through Fair Work, and BCN’s guide to apprentice wages by trade and year breaks down what those rates look like in practice.
The “earn and learn” pitch
Federation University is working with schools and potential employers to show students a wider range of careers before they commit, and looking at models that stitch paid work more tightly to study.
Pro vice-chancellor of VET and pathways Darren Gray said income during training is now a make-or-break issue.
“As the cost-of-living increases, this is even more important for many students,” Mr Gray said.
“This is particularly important in regional communities, where vocational pathways are critical to meeting workforce demand across both trade and non-trade industries.”
Gray said some earn-and-learn models give students access to “wellbeing services, literacy and numeracy support, scholarships, free food and other help”, the kind of backup that can decide whether someone juggling work, family and study sticks it out.
What to watch
The next NCVER quarterly release will show whether the 8.6 per cent slide in contracts in progress is a blip or a trend, and whether the trade side holds up better than the non-trade collapse.
For anyone with a first-year in the ute right now, the 85 per cent figure is the one worth pinning to the smoko room wall. Most of the apprentices who quit reckon something could have kept them there, and the most common fix they named was the job itself.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of Australian apprentices don’t finish their training?
NCVER figures show 52 per cent of apprentices and trainees who started in 2020 didn’t complete their training within the expected four years.
Why do most apprentices quit before finishing?
Researchers who spoke to ABC News point to low pay, patchy mentoring, rigid training timetables and long travel times in regional areas, saying it’s the job itself, not the training, that drives people out.
Could most apprentices who quit have been kept on?
Among apprentices who left before finishing, about 85 per cent said something could have helped them stay, most commonly a change to their job or workplace.
Where can employers check current apprentice pay rates?
Apprentice pay is set under the relevant modern award and varies by trade, year of apprenticeship and whether the apprentice finished Year 12. Employers can check current rates through Fair Work.
Sourced from ABC News, NCVER. Original article.
