Welder apprenticeships in New Zealand
Welders use handheld or remotely controlled equipment to join, cut and repair metal, in workshops, factories, on building sites, boats or rigs.
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How long did your apprenticeship take?
Put it on the record. Anonymous, about two minutes.
Add your timelineHow long is a welder apprenticeship, and what does it pay?
A welder apprenticeship in New Zealand takes 0–3 years. Once qualified, the job most commonly pays $62,000–$97,000 a year, starting at $50,000 a year and reaching $119,000 a year with experience. No registration is required for this trade.
- How long it takes
- 0–3 years
- Pay when starting out
- $50,000 a year
- Most common pay
- $62,000–$97,000 a year
- Experienced
- $119,000 a year
- School qualifications
- NCEA Level 2 may be useful, but is not specifically required.
- Registration
- Not required for this trade.
Those pay ranges are for the job, not for an apprentice. While you are training your legal floor is the training minimum wage of $19.16 an hour if you are 20 or over and your agreement requires at least 60 credits a year of industry training; otherwise it is the adult minimum of $23.95. Plenty of employers pay well above either. How apprentice pay works →
What is a welder apprenticeship like?
Most welders in New Zealand learn on the job. You start in a fabrication shop, engineering workshop or manufacturing plant doing the simpler work, grinding, cutting and tacking, and take on full welds as your hands and your eye improve.
The work is practical and physical: setting up the welding gear, adjusting gas flow and heat, joining and repairing metal parts, grinding welds smooth and measuring the finished job. Workshops and factories are the usual place, but welders also work on building sites, boats and rigs, often in noisy conditions and sometimes at heights.
Which training routes lead into welder work?
There is more than one way in, and the length depends on which you take. These are the routes as the providers themselves describe them:
| Route | Length | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Entry or intermediate welding certificate | Weeks to months | A pre-trade course at a polytechnic. Tahatū lists an entry certificate in welding, then an intermediate one, as a way in before or alongside a job. Tahatū — Welder |
| New Zealand Apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering (Level 3) | 2 years | 124 credits, in the workplace plus block courses, through Competenz. Covers safe workshop practice, trade maths, reading engineering sketches and single-process engineering jobs. Competenz qualifications list |
| New Zealand Apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering (Trade) (Level 4), General Engineering strand | 4 years | 285 credits, workplace plus block courses, through Competenz. The full trade qualification: graduates build, maintain and repair machinery using fitting, machining, fabrication and welding. Competenz qualifications list |
Worked example. An apprentice aged 20 or over on the training minimum of $19.16 an hour for 40 hours a week earns about $39,853 a year (Employment New Zealand rate). Tahatū puts the entry pay for a qualified welder at $50,000 a year, so finishing the training is worth roughly $10,147 a year at the floor, before any employer pays above it.
What do you need to start a welder apprenticeship?
An employer willing to take you on, first of all — everything else follows the job. NCEA Level 2 may be useful, but is not specifically required. Beyond that, what a welder apprenticeship asks for is:
- An apprenticeship in welding or mechanical engineering.
- An entry or intermediate certificate in welding, or the New Zealand Certificate in Mechanical Engineering (Level 3).
- A driver licence, and you may need to pass a drug test.
In every trade the order is the same: you find the employer first, then the training is arranged around the job. How to get an apprenticeship →
Weighing up the engineering trades side by side? Engineering apprenticeships compared →
How long is a welding apprenticeship in NZ?
Between 2 and 4 years. Competenz's Level 3 Mechanical Engineering apprenticeship takes 2 years and its Level 4 trade apprenticeship (General Engineering strand, which covers fabrication and welding) takes 4. Tahatū puts welder training at 0 to 3 years, because many welders learn on the job without a full apprenticeship.
How much does an apprentice welder earn in NZ?
The legal floor is the training minimum wage of $19.16 an hour, about $39,853 a year on 40 hours, if you are 20 or over and your agreement needs 60 credits a year. Otherwise it is the adult minimum of $23.95. Qualified welders start around $50,000 a year and most earn $62,000 to $97,000.
Do you need qualifications to become a welder in NZ?
Not formally. Tahatū says you usually learn on the job and no specific NCEA level is needed, though NCEA Level 2 helps. An entry welding certificate makes you easier to hire, and you may need a driver licence and to pass a drug test.
Is welding a good trade in NZ?
It is steady work. Tahatū counts about 4,800 people employed as welders in the 2023 Census, with employment steady since 2018, and the most common pay is $62,000 to $97,000 a year, rising to $119,000 with experience.
Which New Zealand employers take on welder apprentices?
We list 2 of them, across 2 regions: Auckland, Bay of Plenty. Each was verified against the company's own website, and each listing carries a name, a trade and a region only — this site holds no reviews or ratings of any of them.
Pay, duration and entry requirements quoted from Tahatū Career Navigator — Welder, read 2026-11-03. Wage floors from Employment New Zealand, checked 2026-11-01.