Teachers & Trainers in Austria

Teachers and trainers play a crucial role in apprenticeship training. In-company trainers are usually regular employees who receive special training and pass a qualification exam to be allowed to train apprentices.

IVET trainers (in companies) and teachers (in part-time VET schools) facilitate the learning process within the dual system.

The work of the IVET trainer not only requires certain previous professional qualifications but also proof of knowledge and skills related to vocational pedagogy and law. Candidates have to take the IVET trainer examination, which is one module of the master craftsperson examination, to assess their knowledge and skills. The IVET trainer examination is waived upon successful completion of a forty-hour IVET trainer course. Some qualifications or exams (e.g. successful completion of a foreperson course) are treated as equivalent to the IVET trainer examination or IVET trainer course. The majority of trainers train their apprentices on a part-time basis alongside their regular work. But there are also full-time trainers and full-time training supervisors in many large enterprises.

The work of a teacher in a part-time VET school requires  a Bachelor or a Master degree from a university college of education.