This publication presents the most up-to-date contract and individual completion and attrition rates for apprentices and trainees, finding that overall completion rates decreased in 2023.

This statistical report looks at data for the 2019 commencing cohort and includes data up to 2023. The authors find the most common reasons apprentices and trainees left training in 2022 included dissatisfaction with pay or working conditions, and also note that the COVID-19 pandemic was a significant disruption for apprentices and employers and may have impacted completion rates.

Key findings

Individual completion rates after 4 years for apprenticeships and traineeships commencing in 2019 were:

• 55% for all occupations, down 1.0 percentage points from those commencing in 2018
• 54% for trade occupations, up 0.7 percentage points from those commencing in 2018
• 56% for non-trade occupations, down 2.5 percentage points from those commencing in 2018.

Contract completion rates after 4 years for apprenticeships and traineeships commencing in 2019 were:

• 48% for all occupations, down 1 percentage points from those commencing in 2018
• 43% for trade occupations, up 0.7 percentage points from those commencing in 2018
• 53% for non-trade occupations, down 2.6 percentage points from those commencing in 2018.