School-based apprenticeships explained

What a school-based apprenticeship actually is

A school-based apprenticeship is a normal apprenticeship that you start while still enrolled in high school. You are employed part-time by a real business (or through a group training organisation that places you with one), you do hands-on work, and you do formal training with a registered training organisation such as TAFE.

It is set up with a National Training Contract, a legally binding agreement signed by you, your parent or guardian, the employer and the training provider. That contract is what makes it a genuine apprenticeship rather than just work experience. You are a part-time employee, not a casual, so the hours are steady and you are covered by workplace insurance.

Who can do one and how it fits around school

In most states you can start from Year 10 and once you are at least 15. The usual pattern is that you keep going to school for most of the week and are released for roughly one day a week to work and train, though this can be negotiated and some students do it in blocks.

• •The time you spend working and training is recognised and counts as units towards your senior secondary certificate (for example the HSC in New South Wales).
• •You have to clock up a minimum amount of paid work. In New South Wales it is at least 100 days by the end of your HSC year, and licensed trades need more (around 180 days for electrical and plumbing, 144 for construction, 130 for automotive).
• •Whether it counts towards your ATAR depends on the subject and your state, so check with your school careers adviser before you assume it does. In some pathways it does not contribute to an ATAR at all.
• •Casual hours do not count towards the requirement, so check your payslips early to make sure you are being employed correctly.

How the pay works, and what you will actually earn

Apprentice pay is not a single flat figure. It is set by the award (or a registered agreement) that covers your trade, and it depends on the stage of your apprenticeship, how much training you have completed, and in some cases your age. School-based apprentices are usually paid for the hours they actually work, so a one-day-a-week apprentice earns far less per week than a full-timer.

Do not trust a random dollar figure you see online for apprentice pay. The reliable way to check your rate is the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool, which lets you pick your award and see the correct hourly rate. Apprentice pay also rises as you move up, either after a set time (time-based) or once you hit training milestones (competency-based), depending on your award.

• •There is extra financial help on top of wages. The federal government runs support payments, low-interest apprenticeship support loans, and a Living Away From Home Allowance for eligible apprentices who have to move for the job. Look these up through apprenticeships.gov.au before you start.
• •Once you finish the full apprenticeship, you move onto the qualified tradesperson rate, which is a large jump from apprentice pay.

What it turns into after you leave school

A school-based apprenticeship generally gets you through the early stage of the qualification while you are at school, not the whole thing. A two-year run alongside Year 11 and 12 often covers roughly the first year of the trade.

When you finish school you convert to a full-time apprenticeship with the same or a new employer, and the time and competencies you already banked carry across, so you are not starting from scratch. Most trades then need another two to three years full-time. The upside is real: you can be a qualified tradesperson a year or so younger than your mates who started after Year 12.

The honest downsides

This is the part the brochures skip. A school-based apprenticeship is a real job stacked on top of school, and that suits some people and burns out others.

• •You lose a chunk of your week. Missing a school day every week can hurt if you are also chasing a strong ATAR, and it is easy to fall behind in class-heavy subjects.
• •It is tiring. Physical work plus assessments plus a wage job is a genuine load for a 16 or 17 year old.
• •The traditional licensed trades are the hardest to arrange this way. Electrical and plumbing apprenticeships are long and heavily regulated, so fewer employers offer them on a school-based basis than offer, say, business or retail traineeships.
• •You are committing early. If you are not sure the trade is right, locking into a training contract at 15 or 16 is a big call. It can be cancelled, but it is not effortless.
• •It depends on finding a willing employer near you. No employer, no apprenticeship, and in some towns and some trades the spots are limited.

What qualified tradies earn, and where the work is

Apprentice pay is modest, but the reason people push through is the qualified rate at the end. The figures below are approximate median weekly earnings for full-time non-managerial adult workers, from the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (May 2025) as published by Jobs and Skills Australia. They are before tax, and real pay varies a lot with experience, location, overtime, and whether you end up running your own business. The employment-growth notes are the annual change in the number of workers.

Across the trades on this site there is a wide spread, and a couple are shrinking rather than growing, which matters when you are choosing.

• •Electrical: around $2,191 a week (roughly $114,000 a year), with strong growth (about +7,200 workers a year). One of the safest bets.
• •Plumbing: around $1,990 a week (roughly $103,000 a year), growing solidly (about +4,500 a year).
• •HVAC and refrigeration: around $2,100 a week (roughly $109,000 a year); pay is high but the workforce is small and barely growing.
• •Bricklaying: around $2,317 a week on the figures, but off a small workforce that is slowly shrinking (about -800 a year), so treat the pay number with caution.
• •Carpentry: around $1,760 a week (roughly $91,000 a year), with steady growth (about +2,900 a year).
• •Welding and fabrication: around $1,688 a week (roughly $88,000 a year), growing modestly.
• •Automotive (motor mechanics): around $1,622 a week (roughly $84,000 a year), growing slowly. Lower pay than the building services trades.
• •Painting: around $1,379 a week (roughly $72,000 a year), and employment is falling (about -2,300 a year), the weakest of the eight on both pay and demand.

Which trades suit a school-based start

On the numbers, electrical, plumbing and carpentry are the strongest combination of pay, demand and availability, and they are commonly offered as construction pathways. HVAC and refrigeration pays well and is a quieter, more technical option if you can find a spot. Welding and automotive are solid trades but sit lower on pay.

Painting and bricklaying are worth thinking harder about: both show flat or falling employment, so while they can still be good careers (especially self-employed), you are backing yourself into a tighter market. None of this means avoid them, but go in with your eyes open and ask local employers what the work is really like near you.

How to actually get started

• •Talk to your school careers adviser first. They know which SBATs your school supports and can help line up the paperwork.
• •Look for an employer, either directly or through a group training organisation, which employs you and rotates you between host businesses.
• •Contact an Apprentice Connect Australia Provider (through apprenticeships.gov.au). They help set up and sign off the National Training Contract.
• •Check the pay rate for your specific trade and stage on the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool before you sign, so there are no surprises.
• •Confirm with your school how the SBAT counts towards your Year 12 certificate and whether it affects your ATAR.