There were 349 235 apprentices and trainees as at end December 2021,16.8 per cent more than at year end 2020

December quarter ’21 commencements were down on ’20 but “considerably higher” on the same quarter in the three years pre-pandemic, 2017-19, the estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research reports.

NCVER suggests the increases occurred “largely as a result” of the commencements wage subsidy the Commonwealth introduced in October 2020, “to help recovery from the impact of COVID-19”.

Good-o for now – commencements collapsed from 2012, when the Commonwealth cancelled a previous wage subsidy which inflated demand.