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Who runs apprenticeships in New Zealand now
If you are searching for BCITO, Competenz or Te Pūkenga and finding pages that contradict each other, this is why: the organisations that ran apprenticeships were restructured on 1 January 2026, and they are due to change again in 2028.
What changed on 1 January 2026
Vocational education legislation passed in October 2025 did three things at once. It disestablished Te Pūkenga, the national mega-institute that had absorbed the polytechnics and the industry training organisations. It re-established ten regional polytechnics as standalone institutions. And it replaced the Workforce Development Councils with eight Industry Skills Boards.
For anyone doing an apprenticeship, the practical effect is that the body administering your training agreement changed hands, while the qualification you are working towards did not.
The eight Industry Skills Boards
Each is a statutory standard-setting body with majority industry governance. They develop qualifications, endorse programmes and moderate assessment for their sector — and, for now, temporarily manage the work-based training that transferred across from Te Pūkenga.
| Industry Skills Board | Covers |
|---|---|
| Construction and Specialist Trades | Carpentry, plumbing, painting and the building trades. |
| Electrotechnology and Information Technology | Electrical, electronics, IT and creative sectors. |
| Manufacturing and Engineering | Mechanical engineering, fitting and turning, welding. |
| Energy and Infrastructure | Energy generation and supply, roading and infrastructure. |
| Transport | Automotive, road and rail transport, logistics. |
| Services | Hospitality, hairdressing, retail and service industries. |
| Food and Fibre | Agriculture, horticulture, forestry and food production. |
| Education, Community, and Health | Education support, community and health services. |
The 2026–2027 transition, and what happens in 2028
The current arrangement is explicitly temporary. There is a two-year transition period during which the Industry Skills Boards hold the work-based training that moved over from Te Pūkenga's divisions.
From 1 January 2028, the Industry Skills Boards become standards-setting bodies only and will not manage training at all. Every apprenticeship and traineeship must by then sit with a polytechnic, a private training establishment or a wānanga, and those providers deliver work-based learning independently.
What this means if you are starting now. The provider you enrol with may not be the organisation that holds your training agreement by the time you finish. That is a known feature of the transition, not a sign anything has gone wrong. Keep your own copy of your training plan and your record of credits.
Where the old names went
The industry training organisations — the names most people still search for — were folded into Te Pūkenga before it was itself disestablished, and their work-based learning functions moved to the Industry Skills Boards in January 2026. If you are looking for the body that now handles your trade, start from the Industry Skills Board for your sector in the table above.
Careers.govt.nz is also gone: the Tertiary Education Commission's careers information now lives at Tahatū Career Navigator, which is where the pay and duration figures on our trade pages come from.
Common questions
What happened to Te Pūkenga?
Te Pūkenga was disestablished by vocational education legislation passed in October 2025. From 1 January 2026 it was replaced by a network of regional polytechnics, with the remaining entity renamed the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology.
What replaced the Workforce Development Councils?
Eight Industry Skills Boards were established on 1 January 2026 to replace the Workforce Development Councils. They are statutory standard-setting bodies with majority industry governance, responsible for qualifications, programme endorsement and assessment moderation.
Does this change my apprenticeship?
If you are already partway through, your training continues. During a two-year transition the Industry Skills Boards temporarily manage existing work-based training that transferred from Te Pūkenga. What changes is who administers it, not the qualification you are working towards.
What happens in 2028?
From 1 January 2028 Industry Skills Boards become standards-setting bodies only and will not manage any training. Apprenticeships and traineeships move to polytechnics, private training establishments and wānanga, which will deliver work-based learning directly.
Sourced from Ministry of Education — Redesign of the Vocational Education and Training System, checked 2026-09-18. We have described only what that source states: the eight boards, the 1 January 2026 start, the two-year transition and the 1 January 2028 change. Where it is silent — for example on which individual training organisation now holds a particular agreement — this page says nothing.