Giving would-be apprentices a taste of what to expect through pre-apprenticeship training does not necessarily lead to increased completion rates or course satisfaction.

Pre-apprenticeship programs have attracted a great degree of interest from employers and training providers as one means of increasing apprentice satisfaction and completion rates, by providing an introduction to the trade. We test this proposition using data from the 2010 Apprentice and Trainee Destination Survey. We find that the impact of pre-apprenticeships varies with occupation and prior education level. Pre-apprenticeships increase the likelihood of completion for apprentices in the construction, food and electro-technology trades but reduce completion rates among those already holding a certificate III or higher qualification and some other categories of apprentices.

Released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Pre-apprenticeships and their impact on apprenticeship completion and satisfaction finds that these courses see only a modest increase in satisfaction with job related aspects of apprenticeships – nothing that suggests that pre-apprenticeships solve many of the issues relating to poor completion rates.