Apprenticeships

Let's grow by upskilling you and your staff


Apprenticeships grow the knowledge and skills of staff, leading to a more successful business.

They help keep New Zealand’s primary industries sustainable and world-leading. 

Apprentices get to earn while they learn, develop their skills on the job, and grow their careers.   

Employers enjoy motivated staff who are more likely to stay, can improve business productivity, and help drive growth.  

Apprentices gain skills and qualifications 

Becoming an apprentice gives you the skills and recognised qualifications you need to successfully progress through your industry. 

We’ll give you extra support to help you get those skills and qualifications. Let's grow! 

Employers that take on apprentices become more successful and productive

Taking on an apprentice will positively impact your business immediately and in the long term. Productivity improves and health and safety issues fall, along with recruitment costs. 

Having your staff enrol in an apprenticeship helps your business run successfully, giving you more time to do what you want.

An apprenticeship is also a great way to reward hard-working staff. You’re helping them develop their skills and create opportunities for the future. We give extra support to apprentices. We’ll coordinate and develop their training plans, facilitate their training, and arrange workplace assessments. From beginning to end, we’ll support you and your apprentices to get the best results. We can provide specialised literacy and numeracy support if needed.

Our programmes

Our programme pages show you what apprenticeships are available, how long they are, and how much they cost.

Discover all of the apprenticeships we have on offer.

How apprenticeships work

An apprenticeship is a three-way relationship between an employer, employee, and the local Primary ITO Training Adviser. All three parties sign a training agreement.

Read our training agreements

PITO Training Agreement [PDF, 1.5MB]. 
Dairy Processing corporate training agreement [PDF, 1.2MB]

PITO Enrolment form [PDF, 1.2 MB]

As an apprentice, you’ll keep working for your employer while achieving the unit standards in your programme of study. 

To achieve a unit standard, you must show that you are competent in the task that standard covers. Your employer or another assessor will verify that you are competent and have completed the unit standard. 

We keep track of your progress in our database. The unit standards add up as you work through your apprenticeship. Once you finish all of them, you complete your apprenticeship.

We’ll support you to help you achieve your goals.


How to enrol to become an apprentice

If you want to become an apprentice, talk to your employer first. Your employer must be committed to supporting you with your learning. 

Then, get in touch with us. We’ll talk through the options and give you more information, including any extra criteria. If you want to go ahead with the apprenticeship, we’ll organise a visit to you and your employer. 

Contact us.

During the visit, we’ll talk about your goals with you and your employer. You’ll sign a training agreement that lets us enrol you in an apprenticeship. Then you’re ready to start! 


Government support is available for apprentices and employers 

If you’re an employer taking on apprentices through our programmes, you may be eligible for the Government’s Apprenticeship Boost. 

Learn more about the Apprenticeship Boost.