Access and Guidance in Austria

General access

Training in an apprenticeship occupation is open to all young people who have completed nine years of compulsory schooling. No specific school qualification is required to take part in an apprenticeship. For young people who have already completed apprenticeship training or who have graduated from an upper secondary school, the apprenticeship period is reduced by half a year or one year. When a young person wants to learn an apprenticeship trade, they need to apply directly to a company that offers apprenticeship posts.

Since 2016, every young person who has completed nine years of compulsory schooling has had the guarantee that they will find a training place (Ausbildungsgarantie). If they are not in an upper secondary school or in apprenticeship training, the state has to provide a training slot within supra-company training. In June 2016, the parliament passed a new law stipulating that, from 2017 onwards, all young people under the age of 18 either have to be in school or in apprenticeship training (Ausbildungspflicht – compulsory education or training). This means that the nine years of compulsory schooling are followed by three more years in academic education or vocational training.

Guidance and support

It is not always easy for young people to select a suitable occupation or find an apprenticeship post. Different services and initiatives have been set up to support the decision-making process as well as the search for an apprenticeship post. Generally, placement into training vacancies in the dual system is conducted via the career guidance branch of the Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS). General information about apprenticeship training and help in the search for vacant apprenticeship posts (www.ams.at/lehrstellen) are provided by the Apprenticeship Offices. AMS has set up, together with the Federal Economic Chamber, an online platform for finding vacant apprenticeship posts. This enables young people to efficiently search for potential companies providing training. The educational counselling and career guidance offices of the economic chambers support young people by providing a variety of opportunities.  The economic chambers have established the career guidance tool BIC (www.bic.at) in order to offer a state-of-the-art communication forum to inform, guide, and support young people in their search for a suitable occupation.