Supra-company apprenticeship training

Young people who cannot find a company-based apprenticeship place can enter supra-company apprenticeship training (Überbetriebliche Lehrausbildung, ÜBA) on behalf of the public employment service (AMS) offering alternative vocational qualification structures and respective programmes. This training establishments (training workshops) provide vocational qualification equivalent to the qualification of a company-based apprenticeship. The number of (young) participants (people in the programme) in supra-company training in the 2023/24 training year totalled 9,004 people (source: AMS).

Strictly speaking, there are two different types of supra-company apprenticeship training (in accordance with § 30b BAG): Training measures in training institutions with a training contract for the entire apprenticeship period (so-called “long form” or “ÜBA 1”) and training measures in cooperation between training institutions and practical companies with a training contract that is shorter than the entire apprenticeship period (so-called “short form” or “ÜBA 2”). In the 2023/24 training year, around 68 % of participants throughout Austria (as part of the regular ÜBA, i.e. without an extension of the apprenticeship period/partial qualification) were in ÜBA 1 and 32 % in ÜBA 2. Broken down by province, it can be seen that supra-company apprenticeship training on behalf of the AMS (§ 30b and 8c BAG) is offered particularly strongly in Vienna (56 % of participants) and still relatively frequently in Lower Austria and Styria (source: AMS + ibw calculations).

Around 86 % of § 8b apprentices will complete their vocational training at the end of 2023 in the form of an extension of the apprenticeship period, around 14 % in the form of a partial qualification. The possibility of extending the apprenticeship period demonstrates a particularly important, innovative, compensatory and supportive approach: ‘weaker’ young people should not (as is often the case) leave the training system earlier than others, but on the contrary should receive more and longer training and support to enable them to obtain a fully-fledged vocational qualification (apprenticeship qualification). An essential element of apprenticeship training in the form of an extension of the apprenticeship period or partial qualification is the continuous support provided by vocational training assistance, which supports apprentices and training companies in socio-pedagogical, psychological and didactic terms.

An evaluation study from 2011 of supra-company apprenticeship training (ÜBA) in Austria, which focuses on early leavers due to the data basis used (participants in ÜBA 2008 - 2011), allows the conclusion that around one third of the (predominantly early) leavers from ÜBA 1, ÜBA 2 and (inter-company) IBA (integrative Berufsausbildung) who were examined switched to a company-based apprenticeship, i.e. in the first six months after participating in the measure, the predominant labour market status was an apprenticeship. 

The success of supra-company vocational training in Austria in terms of medium-term and sustainable labour market integration was examined in a partial report published in 2016 as part of the background analysis on the effectiveness of company-based apprenticeship promotion (in accordance with § 19c BAG) and as part of the evaluation of apprenticeship promotion by the AMS (2017). A recent study (2023) shows that 63 % of those who completed an supra-company training programme in the period 2011 - 2020 and who had also completed their training in an inter-company training institution (and had not transferred to a company) were employed three years after completing their apprenticeship, 24% were unemployed and 12% could be assigned to another category.

The Vocational Training Act (BAG) is the legal framework for the in-company training of apprentices. In addition, the Vocational Training Act also contains a number of provisions relating to the area of vocational secondary and higher schools as well as their special forms and school experiments. For example, one provision stipulates that the successful completion of at least a 3-year VET schools (BMS) or 5-year VET colleges (BHS) in the areas of

• vocational qualification
• Labour law including collective agreements
• social security law

ensures a minimum proportion of the vocational qualification. This is linked to the fact that graduates of BMHS, through their examination certificate 

• have access to professional activities that require a final apprenticeship examination in a relevant apprenticeship occupation
• provide proof of the employment requirements for certain job groups in the public sector
• receive an appropriate classification in certain wage and salary brackets.

The following are considered as examination certificates:

• Final examination certificate from a VET school (BMS) programme lasting at least 3 years
• school leaving certificate and diploma certificate of a VET college (BHS)
• Diploma examination certificate from a VET college (BHS)

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Equivalence of school qualifications with relevant apprenticeship qualifications

§ Section 34a Vocational Training Act (BAG) stipulates that successful completion of a VET school or VET college (BMHS) has the same legal effects as passing the final apprenticeship examination in a relevant apprenticeship occupation.

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy (BMWA) has issued an ordinance specifying which school and apprenticeship qualifications are to be regarded as equivalent. This ordinance therefore conclusively specifies the apprenticeship occupations in which no apprenticeship contract and therefore no training contract may be concluded after successful completion of a vocational middle or secondary school. 

If an apprenticeship contract is to be concluded in a related apprenticeship occupation that is only partially related to the apprenticeship occupation to be replaced, an apprenticeship contract may only be concluded for the remaining apprenticeship period.
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