Associate Professor Erica Smith from Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Faculty of Education says “apprenticeships are such a hot issue at the moment”. This is why the topic has been chosen for the latest Research in Vocational Education and Training (RIVET) colloquium to be held at CSU this Friday (20 October). Professor Smith says the twice yearly events, which are funded by CSU’s Faculty of Education and managed by the RIVET CSU Community of Scholars, “have quite a reputation among the local community as a place to come and keep up to date with the latest research. The first speaker is looking at how to improve teaching practice in apprenticeships, and then we have a local speaker who is going to talk about the impact of recent national changes at a local level. The second part of the day is about innovations to increase participation in apprenticeships. School-based apprenticeships are new to NSW, and schools will learn how they can integrate these into their curriculum. The final paper is about pre-apprenticeships which is an initiative to start people in apprentice training off the job.”