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What are the benefits of competency-based training apprenticeships for employers, apprentices and RTOs?

What are the benefits of competency-based training for employers?

Benefits for employers include:

an increased pool of qualified tradespersons;
more on the job training and associated productivity gains;
effective response to the need to develop specialist skill sets levels; and
increased productivity and morale of employees - apprentices work at a higher level and qualify more quickly and have better career path options.

Benefits for apprentices include:

achieving a qualification in a shorter time period, and so quicker access to higher wages;
assisting experienced but not formally qualified people to gain a formal qualification;
attracting older workers to a trade as a shorter time period reduces financial and other costs to mature apprentices and their families; and
recognition of prior learning and competency-based training allows earlier completion of training and the recognition of prior experience;
- recognition of prior learning is the recognition of competencies currently held, regardless of how, when or where the learning occurred, and this learning is counted towards the achievement of a qualification;
- competency-based training enables an apprenticeship to be completed once all parties have determined competence has been reached - regardless of time served.

RTOs report that funding under the Program has allowed them to:

extend their design and delivery capabilities allowing them to deliver more flexible training through competency-based training, recognition of prior learning and closer industry/employer partnering;
build better relationships with industry and employers;
reinvigorated some apprenticeships where participant numbers were low; and
develop skills in relation to the provision of more consistent high-quality training and administration across all parts of apprenticeships, including school-based, on-the-job and off-the-job components.