Apprenticeship Boost

These tables present counts relating to the Apprenticeship Boost initiative by a range of demographic and other characteristics.

Apprenticeship training helps to help meet strong demand for skilled tradespeople across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Apprenticeship Boost supports firms to keep early-stage apprentices and to hire new apprentices as part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19.

Through Apprenticeship Boost, employers can claim a monthly payment of $500 (GST exclusive) through the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) for eligible first and second-year apprentices. Apprentice eligibility includes being enrolled and engaged in a formal apprenticeship training programme (a New Zealand Apprenticeship or a Managed Apprenticeship programme).

Apprenticeship Boost is a time-limited programme that started in August 2020 and will finish at the end of December 2024.

Apprenticeship Boost statistics relate to learners who have been verified by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) for the purposes of Apprenticeship Boost payments.

Verification by the TEC takes place after an employer has been verified by Inland Revenue and has applied for Apprenticeship Boost payments. The TEC verifies for MSD that employees are enrolled in a New Zealand Apprenticeship or TEC-approved Managed Apprenticeship, and how many months of apprenticeship training they have done. MSD makes payments in accordance with the Apprenticeship Boost Initiative Welfare Programme. The Ministry of Education produces Apprenticeship Boost data sets using Industry Training Register and Single Data Return data, which provides for demographic analysis. Apprenticeship Boost data is anonymised, and is not able to be linked to MSD payments data.

This division of data responsibility provides for:

• Confidence that employees’ privacy is protected, and each agency has information that is needed to carry out its functions.
• Confidence that payments are being made for eligible employees.
• Analysis of Apprenticeship Boost data for reporting and policy development, utilising the industry training data available.