Increasing Apprenticeship Course Attendance Through Behavioural Interventions

We found that if the employers of apprentices and trainees (henceforth "learners") were sent a text message detailing what the learners are studying at TAFE, we could significantly increase course attendance.

The issue

In 2015, the Premier Mike Baird set a state target of 65% completion rates for apprentices and trainees. Since November 2015, BIU has worked closely with Training Services NSW (TS NSW) and TAFE NSW to design and deliver a range of interventions to increase the proportion of people completing apprenticeships and traineeships. Our collaboration has resulted in three trials.

Today, we have published our report on our second trial, Strengthening Connections:  Increasing Apprenticeship Course Attendance Through Behavioural Interventions. Here are the highlights.

Barriers to completion

Our previous fieldwork revealed two key barriers to apprenticeship and traineeship completion: a disconnect between formal study and on-the-job learning, and insufficient employer support.

• At work, learners often do not communicate what they are learning to their employers. Consequently, employers do not value the training their learners received.
• Employers are also often unaware of what their learners study at TAFE so they cannot give them a chance to practice their skills at work. Due to this disconnect, both employers and learners have negative perceptions about the value of the training they receive at TAFE.

SMS can improve learning

Prior behavioural research on school attendance shows that improving communication between teachers and parents using SMS has increased benefits for students, from preschool to high school.

Our trial sought to apply these empirical insights into a new setting for a different cohort: vocational learners and their employers.

We ran a trial

We ran a randomised control trial (RCT). One set of learners in the Treatment group received our behavioural intervention. Their employers received text messages for one semester. Each week, TAFE NSW teachers and head teachers wrote to our project team with a brief summary of what they taught in class. We then used this content to craft a behaviourally informed message, either prompting employers to give the apprentice a chance to pract