The Norwegian Education Mirror 2022
Apprentices and training establishments
Pupils on vocational courses normally start an apprenticeship in their third year. There were a total of 46,700 apprentices in Norway in autumn 2021, an increase of 1,700 from the previous year. This figure includes new apprentices and those who have been apprentices for more than one year. In addition there were 1,840 training candidates and nearly 1,020 who had contracts for vocational certificates at work. In the past 10 years, the number of apprentices has increased continuously until 2019, and it is fair to think that the decline from 2019-2020 is connected to the Coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown in society may have led to fewer available apprenticeships. The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on apprentices is discussed in the report 'Mulige konsekvenser av koronapandemien' (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2022).
8 in 10 get apprenticeships
In 2021, nearly 30,300 young people applied for apprenticeships, 1,600 more than in 2020. 78 per cent of applicants received an apprenticeship contract and started training in a company. This is an increase of 3 percentage points from 2020, or around 2,000 more apprenticeship contracts. This increase indicates that it was easier to get an apprenticeship than during the first year of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The highest proportion got apprenticeships within Building and Construction, while the lowest proportion got apprenticeships in Healthcare, Child and Youth Development; 87 per cent compared with 69 per cent. Pupils who did not receive apprenticeships in the same autumn in which they applied have a significantly smaller chance of completing upper secondary school education than those who received apprenticeships in the same autumn in which they applied. (Statistics Norway 2020b).
Fewer applicants with migrant backgrounds receive apprenticeship contracts
Earlier analysis shows that applicants with migrant backgrounds have more difficulties than other applicants in obtaining apprenticeships (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2019). Part of the explanation is that applicants with an immigrant background have, on average, lower grades and higher absences than other applicants, but the differences in grades and absences still do not seem to explain the entire difference in the proportion who get an apprenticeship. The proportion of applicants with migrant background who receive apprenticeships decreased by 6 percentage points from 2019 to 2020, while for other applicants this proportion only decreased by 1 percentage point. The decline was biggest for girls with migrant backgrounds.
What is an apprentice and a training candidate, and what is vocational training in schools and vocational certificates at work?
Apprentices are people who have entered into an apprenticeship contract to allow them to train and gain experience in a company, with the aim of obtaining a professional or craft certificate. Learning times are normally two years before taking a professional or craft examination.
Training candidates enter into apprenticeship contracts with a training establishment and sit a competency test with the aim of obtaining a vocational training certificate. A vocational training certificate is less comprehensive than a professional or craft certificate.
Vocational training in schools is offered to pupils who have not received apprenticeships. These pupils receive vocational training in school instead of in a company, and finish by sitting a professional or apprentice text, normally after one year.
Vocational certificates at work is a scheme for adults in work. The scheme gives the opportunity to obtain an apprenticeship or craft certificate on the basis of versatile practice, assessment of real competence and training combined with guided practice in normal work.
There can be many reasons as to why an applicant does not receive an apprenticeship. One reason can be that the applicant is not seen as qualified or ready for the transition to an apprenticeship. Another reason can be a lack of apprenticeships, which may be due to companies lacking motivation to take on apprentices (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2019).
Pupils who do not receive apprenticeships have the right to complete their vocational training in school in the same way as those receiving training in a company. In autumn 2021, this was the case for nearly 1,200 pupils, or more than 4 per cent of applicants who received an apprenticeship contract. It is mostly Healthcare, Child and Youth Development pupils who have vocational training in school.
Most apprentices in Building and Construction
In 2021, Building and Construction had the most apprentices in total, with 10,900, followed by Electrical Engineering and Computer Technology and Technological and Industrial Production with 8,900 and 8,500 apprentices respectively. Healthcare, Child and Youth Development has the most pupils at Level Vg1, but has fewer ongoing apprenticeship contracts than the top programme areas. This is probably due to the fact that Healthcare, Child and Youth Development has shorter apprenticeships in companies than other programme areas.
84 per cent of apprentices have had practical experience in Vocational in-depth studies
Practice experience is one of the most important means of obtaining an apprenticeship. Many apprentices obtain apprenticeships through practical work in a company at Level Vg1 or Level Vg2, either directly where they are deployed, or indirectly by gaining access to networks of relevant apprenticeship companies (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2018).
At Level Vg1 and Level Vg2, Vocational in-depth studies provide for pupils to have practical experience in a company. 84 per cent of apprentices obtained practical experience in Level Vg1 or Level Vg2, and over half obtained practical experience during both Level Vg1 and Level Vg2. 16 per cent say that they did not do any practical work at all. Of those who had practical experience with a company, 73 per cent say that this experience gave them important working life knowledge.
Healthcare, Child and Youth Development is the education programme with the highest proportion of apprentices who have had practical experience in Level Vg1 and Level Vg2, with 83 per cent. Most of those who agree that Vocational in-depth studies gave them important working life knowledge are also in Healthcare, Child and Youth Development. The education programmes Crafts, Design and Product Development and Building and Construction have the highest proportion of apprentices without practical experience. Innlandet has the highest proportion of those deployed at both Level Vg1 and Level Vg2, with nearly 68 per cent. The lowest proportion was in Møre og Romsdal, with 40 per cent.
7 in 10 approved training establishments have apprentices
In 2020-2021 there were around 29,000 approved training establishments in Norway, and just under 21,000 of these had apprentices. The number of training establishments with apprentices has increased by 3,800 from 2012-2013 to 2020-2021. This is an increase of 22 per cent.
Even if the number of training establishments with apprentices has increased in recent years, there are still many approved training establishments without apprentices. 28 per cent of approved training establishments did not have apprentices in the 2020-2021 school year. This proportion is roughly unchanged since 2012-2013.
Most training establishments, over 8,200, are in Building and Construction. Around 6,200 of these, or 75 per cent, have apprentices. Electrical Engineering and Computer Technology has the highest proportion of apprentices, while Service and Transport has the lower proportion; 85 per cent compared to 64 per cent. The proportion of approved training establishments that have apprentices also varies between counties. In Oslo and Trøndelag, 76 per cent of the approved training establishments have apprentices, while in Innlandet, the equivalent proportion is 66 per cent.
It is not sufficient to recruit new training establishments; training establishments must also take in apprentices. There are many obstacles that explain why many of the companies do not have apprentices; it may be that the number of school places does not correspond to available apprenticeships, that the cooperation in the dissemination process is not good enough, or that the applicants are not perceived as qualified (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2019).