"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Most 14- or 15-year-olds are being asked to choose their path with very little experience of the "real world" to draw on.
For example, if you don't have family members involved in trades like building, electrical or plumbing, then you probably have very little concept of what those jobs involve on a day-to-day basis beyond the hi-vis clothing, let alone whether you're temperamentally suited to them. This lack of awareness is just one contributing factor to the national rate of apprenticeship completions being less than 50 per cent in 2025.
Or what if you're a middle-aged office worker anticipating displacement by AI trying to decide if a total pivot to carpentry or early childhood education might be the key to your career longevity? With rising cost-of-living pressures and existing responsibilities, committing to the costs of years of study without knowing the real flavour of a profession can be a perilous decision.
Trade Taster courses and pre-apprenticeships through TAFE make sense on so many levels. For students, they're a low-risk, free (or materials-only cost) way to gather information and "try before you buy" entry into further education.
For TAFE, tasters and pre-apprenticeships help attract the right students to the right courses and thus improve completion and graduation rates. And for the nation at large, these courses help to identify and attract the skilled workers needed in VET priority areas where Jobs and Skills Australia has identified skilled workforce shortages, including in construction and housing; health, care and support; clean energy and net zero transformation; and digital transformation.
"There's a real urgency to offer more free trade tasters and pre-apprenticeship programs at TAFE. We need to be giving students a real idea of what they're going to be doing before they enrol in an apprenticeship or traineeship, so we'll have a better match up and lower rate of non-completions."
Elaine Gillespie, AEU federal TAFE president
Trade tasters in schools
Trade Tasters in schools directly address this "stab in the dark" problem for young people trying to make decisions about further study. These very short courses (literally just a snack) are ideally hands-on, immersive introductory programs designed for beginners who've never touched a tool. Non-accredited, they usually last for two to five days, or one day a week for several weeks. Students get a basic introduction to trades like plumbing, electrical, automotive, carpentry, and construction. They work with industry professionals in TAFE workshops and are pointed to pathways for future study.
Victoria's new Year 9 and Year 10 Vocational Taster Experiences Pilot Program is one such example, currently available at four TAFE institutes across Victoria (Swinburne University of Technology, Holmesglen Institute, South West TAFE and Federation TAFE). Beginning in Term 2, 2025, the program has been funded by the state government through 2027, offering government school students the chance to try a range of vocational study and career options before choosing their subjects for Year 11 and 12. These tasters are offered in three priority industry areas: Building and Construction, Clean Economy, and Care Economy.
TAFE Queensland's Career Taster Program is aimed specifically at Year 10 students. It's a fully funded, hands-on initiative to explore trades and industries like construction, engineering, health and hospitality, one day a week for approximately nine weeks. Offered across a range of TAFE Queensland campuses (including Darling Downs and the Gold Coast regions), the tasters allow students to get to grips with real tools and real learning environments outside of their schools.
"Being in an adult learning environment is an essential element of such programs," says Scottie Tibaldi, an Electrotechnology teacher at TAFE Queensland SkillsTech Bracken Ridge campus where he's been actively involved in developing and teaching the pre-apprenticeship Certificate II in Electrotechnology (Career Start) to high school students over the last 15 years, a VET course that is always in high demand with excellent completion rates.
Tibaldi says: "Being taught by experienced teacher-electricians and being treated as an adult in a diverse environment, with students from different kinds of schools, tends to lead to better behaviour and real learning about whether students are suited to the trade. They also learn that they're all equal and will be judged on work ethic and ability."
Pre-apprenticeships as a key to success
More than a taste, pre-apprenticeships involve a deeper level of introductory engagement with a trade, taking between 3 to 6 months full time (longer if part time or part of VET in school) and working towards the Certificate II qualification. It's not necessary to have a pre-apprenticeship before you undertake the 3-to-4-year apprenticeships, but it does contribute and makes students more attractive to employers.
A 2025 report on the value and impact of pre-apprenticeships by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) found significant benefits to both apprenticeship completion rates (7.3 percentage point increase in probability of completion) along with better student and employer satisfaction.
In subjects like electrotechnology, Tibaldi says it's important for students to realise very early on the intellectual demands of an apprenticeship, including the need for maths.
"We're there to help them, but they need to understand the complexity and problem-solving involved, and that understanding helps to prevent dropout further down the track," he says.
Shane Wright, a carpentry pre-apprenticeship teacher at Box Hill Institute in Victoria for the last 23 years, agrees that students benefit from early understanding of how a trade like carpentry requires good literacy, numeracy and communication skills.
"I think there's a preconception among some school students that a trade is a good option if they don't want to have to read or write too much or do hard maths. We need them to understand the challenges of doing calculations, reading plans and safe work methods."
Shane Wright, carpentry pre-apprenticeship teacher, Box Hill Institute
Tiny tastes: an even easier way to explore ECEC
A new free and fully online 6-hour taster course, An Introduction to Careers in Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, aims to address the serious national shortage of skilled ECEC workers.
Developed by the Centre of Excellence in Early Childhood Education and Care at TAFE SA, this taster has been designed to cater to prospective students nationwide and to showcase the wide variety of roles, opportunities, study pathways and career trajectories available under the ECEC umbrella.
Marisa Unerkov, education manager at the Centre of Excellence, was involved in the development of the course, which has been available since mid-2025 and has seen national uptake of more than 400 students and been shared to other TAFE institutes.
"We're really trying to help people make informed choices about whether this is the right career path for them, because once we attract them, we want to retain them," Unerkov says. "We cover the range of careers and services in ECEC and show what a day in the life of each one might look like, along with the study you need to get there and the personal qualities that make you suitable. It also really gives an insight into the professionalism that sits within this sector."
Unerkov says she's particularly proud of the accessibility of this taster, which can be dipped in and out of over 90 days, and used on mobile devices, with a read-aloud option. The scope is significant too.
"Often pre-employment programs are localised and targeted for specific initiatives," says Unerkov, "but we've been able to think about the national longer-term opportunities for students to have a free course that sets them up for success."
Free to learn, free to try
Free TAFE has been a resounding success in attracting students to further study. But as Gillespie says: "Without the right foundations and wraparound services, we're setting students up to fail."
"This is why it's essential these tasters and pre-apprenticeships are free and accessible, so people can see what's available, take their time to investigate and make informed decisions about the courses they choose."
Elaine Gillespie, AEU federal TAFE president
