Apprenticeship Boost

The payment is made directly to you, the employers. It's to help with things like paying the apprentice's wages. It means apprentices can keep earning while training towards their qualifications.

Apprenticeship Boost is a multi-agency collaboration. Ministry of Education are responsible for its policy, the Tertiary Education Commission verifies the apprentice's information, and we (the Ministry of Social Development) manage applications and payments.

Who can get it

To be eligible, your apprentice must be enrolled and engaged in either:

• building
• agriculture
• horticulture and viticulture
• forestry studies
• manufacturing, engineering and technology
• process and resources engineering
• automotive engineering and technology
• electrical and electronic engineering and technology
• aerospace engineering and technology
• maritime engineering and technology
• other engineering and technology
• human welfare studies and services
• food and hospitality.

To check if your apprentice's qualification is covered:

1. Go to the NZQA website and search for the qualification your apprentice is doing, by selecting certificate, Level 4, and the subject area for their qualification.
2. Click into the qualification and find the subject areas.
3. Check if the subject areas include one of the categories from the list above. If it does, the qualification will be eligible for Apprenticeship Boost from 1 January 2025.

Your apprentice must also:

• be less than 12 months into their apprenticeship (this includes any time they've spent on a similar apprenticeship)
• be employed by you
• have an active enrolment that has not been withdrawn or put on hold
• have a training agreement with you and their Tertiary Education Organisation (TEO).

Who can't get it

You can't get Apprenticeship Boost for your apprentice if you're:

• a State Sector employer
• already getting another wage subsidy from us for this apprentice, for example Flexi-wage, Mana in Mahi or Māori Trades and Training Fund
• already getting a payment from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for this apprentice
• a sole trader or self-employed contractor.

Payment rates

How much you get

You can get $500 a month, per eligible apprentice, not including GST. If you're GST registered, you'll be paid the amount plus GST.

How long you can get the payment

You can get Apprenticeship Boost payments for up to 12 months.

How it's paid

Apprenticeship Boost is paid monthly in advance from the date you apply. It cannot be paid retrospectively.

You can choose how you use the money.

How to apply

Apply for your first payment

You need to apply for your apprentice, they cannot apply themselves.

You need to apply within 20 days of when your apprentice starts training and being employed by you. If you apply later, you might miss out on payments.

Applying for monthly payments

To continue your monthly payments, you'll need to reconfirm your details each month – we'll send you a message when you need to do this. You need to reconfirm each month so we can check you still qualify for this payment and avoid any overpayments.

Apprenticeship Boost invoices

Log into your account in the Apprenticeship Boost portal to view your GST invoice. You can also save this as a PDF.

How to save a PDF from your account

If you're using Chrome:

1. Go to 'Payments' and scroll down to 'Payment Periods'
2. Find the invoice you want and select 'Print'
3. Find the 'Destination' section and select the down arrow to open the list underneath
4. Select 'Save as PDF'
5. Select 'Save'.

If you're using Microsoft Edge:

1. Go to 'Payments' and scroll down to 'Payment Periods'
2. Find the invoice you want and select 'Print'
3. Select 'Microsoft Print to PDF'
4. Select 'Print'
5. Write Enter the name you want to save your invoice as
6. Select 'Save as PDF'.

Your obligations

While you're getting Apprenticeship Boost, you must pay your apprentice at least the:

• minimum wage, or
• starting out wage, or
• training wage.

You must also agree to the terms outlined in the Apprenticeship Boost Declaration:

Previous declarations

If you agreed to an earlier declaration, you can see copies of these here:

Information for apprentices

You can ask for a copy of any information about you that has been supplied to us. You can request this by email at Apprenticeship_Boost@msd.govt.nz or by calling us on 0800 673 227.