Preventing Apprenticeship Dropout: A Plan for the First Year
Most apprentices who leave, leave early. In Germany, two thirds of early contract terminations happen within the first twelve months, more than a third during probation. Preventing apprenticeship dropout therefore starts in year one. If you only step in during the second year, you are often too late.
This article shows what to watch for in which month, which questions surface problems in a conversation, and what to do when an apprentice says: “I’m quitting.”
When apprenticeship contracts are terminated early
The BIBB Datenreport 2026, the annual report of Germany’s Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, shows when contracts were terminated in 2024:
- 34.7% during probation
- 32.9% later in the first year
- in industry and commerce, which includes the metal and electrical trades, about 70% in the first year combined
Across all trades, 29.7% of apprenticeship contracts were terminated early in 2024. How the rate developed in the individual metal and electrical trades is shown in our data check on apprenticeships in Germany’s defence industry.
Terminated early does not mean dropped out. About half of these young people sign a new apprenticeship contract afterwards. Many simply change employer or trade. For your company that changes little: you hired, onboarded and paid, and the skilled worker ends up somewhere else or nowhere.
Why apprentices think about quitting
For its study Ausbildungsperspektiven 2026, the Bertelsmann Stiftung surveyed 1,325 apprentices aged 15 to 25 in spring 2026, in dual training (company plus vocational school) and in school-based training:
- 90% are satisfied with their apprenticeship overall, 46% very satisfied.
- Every second apprentice in dual training is very satisfied with their trainer, another 38% fairly satisfied.
- Even so, 23% have seriously thought about quitting. Among apprentices who have left an apprenticeship early before, it is 44%.
Satisfaction does not protect against thoughts of quitting. An apprentice can like the team, respect the trainer and still spend every Sunday evening dreading Monday. About a quarter of respondents often or almost always feel emotionally strained, about a fifth overwhelmed.
The 467 apprentices who are thinking about quitting or have quit an apprenticeship before were asked for their reasons. Multiple answers were possible.
| Reason | Share |
|---|---|
| Mental strain from the apprenticeship | 36% |
| Apprenticeship very different from what I imagined | 30% |
| Dissatisfied with learning and working conditions (hours, equipment) | 29% |
| No time for anything else, poor work-life balance | 28% |
| Dissatisfied with the quality of training (tasks, teaching) | 24% |
| No longer like the trade | 24% |
| Problems with the trainer | 22% |
| Problems with other apprentices or colleagues | 22% |
| Personal reasons (illness, family) | 20% |
| Prefer to earn money right away | 18% |
| Experienced bullying, discrimination or violence | 17% |
| A better alternative came up | 13% |
Only 13% name a better alternative. Most of the other reasons lie within the apprenticeship itself, and that is where you can act.
What you can influence and when
Sorted by where a company can act, the reasons fall into three groups:
- Before the first day: wrong expectations (30%) and a trade that does not fit (24%) usually start with the career choice. An honest internship, a trial day in the workshop and a conversation with a second-year apprentice show more than any glossy brochure.
- In the company: working conditions, quality of teaching, conflicts with trainers or colleagues, bullying. This is your core territory, and this is where the fixed conversations below come in.
- Outside your role: mental strain and personal reasons cannot be solved with a checklist or an app. They need professionals, such as the company doctor or external counselling services, not trainers.
The 12-month plan
The table shows the typical situation, the warning sign and what you do for each period. In Germany, probation lasts one to four months depending on the contract (§ 20 BBiG, the Vocational Training Act). Adjust the rows to your contract.
| Period | Typical situation | Warning sign | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Between contract and start | Months without contact, the apprentice only hears from friends what an apprenticeship is "really" like | No reply to invitations, doubts in conversation | Get in touch once a month, explain the training plan and the first day, meet the rest of the intake |
| Weeks 1 to 2 | New surroundings, many names, rules, protective equipment | Often stands alone, asks nothing | Assign a buddy from the second year, first conversation in week 2 |
| Months 1 to 2 | First vocational school blocks, theory meets workshop | Unsure about basics such as Ohm's law, training log (Berichtsheft, the record apprentices must keep) stays empty | Ask which topic school is covering right now, look at the training log weekly |
| Months 3 to 4 | Probation ends, the decision "do I stay?" is often made here | More days absent, vague answers, suddenly no more questions | Probation review with specific questions, feedback in both directions |
| Months 5 to 6 | First vocational school grades, first routine | Poor grades are kept quiet, withdrawal from the team | Talk about grades openly, targeted help instead of pressure, organise learning support if needed |
| Months 7 to 9 | Routine instead of novelty, motivation drops | Little progress in the learning plan, conflicts with colleagues, complaints about hours | Give tasks with a visible result, mediate conflicts early, check working hours |
| Months 10 to 12 | First year ends, taking stock | Apprentice talks about other trades or university | Annual review: what went well, what should change, what comes in the second year |
Between contract and start. There are often several months between signing and the first day. During that time, the company is just a name on paper for the future apprentice. A message or a photo of the future workplace costs you five minutes. What belongs in the first eight weeks is in our apprentice onboarding checklist.
Months 3 to 4. When probation ends, the rules for termination change (§ 22 BBiG). Anyone who has doubts here and nobody to talk to often decides alone.
Conversations that work
Often, a conversation only happens once something has gone wrong. Fixed appointments that take place even when everything looks fine work better. A rhythm that suits the first year: week 2, week 6, week 12, then every three months. Twenty minutes each, away from workshop noise and without time pressure.
Almost every apprentice answers “Everything OK?” with “Yes”. Questions that cannot be answered in one word work better:
- “What was the hardest task this week?”
- “Which topic at vocational school are you struggling to keep up with right now?”
- “Who do you ask when you’re stuck? And who would you rather not ask?”
- “What is different from what you imagined?”
- “How much time do you have right now for things outside your apprenticeship?”
- “If you could change one thing about your apprenticeship, what would it be?”
Questions three to five target three reasons from the study: problems with people, wrong expectations, lack of time.
Respond to what you hear, or the apprentice will tell you nothing next time. For personal matters they also need someone who does not assess them: a buddy, the youth and apprentice representatives (JAV) or the works council, where they exist.
To have time for these conversations at all, trainers need to save time elsewhere. We collected seven approaches in reducing trainer workload.
When an apprentice says: “I’m quitting”
1. Don’t react right away, ask instead. “What happened?” gets you further than “Think about it carefully”. There is often a specific problem behind it: a conflict with a colleague, a topic at vocational school, a private matter. Some of it can be solved.
2. Have the legal side checked. Notice periods and the form of a termination are set out in the Vocational Training Act (§ 22 BBiG). Have the individual case checked by the training advisers at your chamber or an employment lawyer before any decision.
3. Get outside help. These offers are free:
- Training advisers at the chamber (Ausbildungsberater). Every chamber of industry and commerce (IHK) and chamber of crafts (HWK) has them. They mediate in conflicts and know the options, for example a move to a related trade where the chamber can shorten the training period on request (§ 8 BBiG).
- VerAplus from the Senior Experten Service. Volunteer mentors, mostly experienced retired professionals, support apprentices one to one. Free for apprentices, companies and vocational schools.
- Assisted Apprenticeship (Assistierte Ausbildung) from the Federal Employment Agency. Learning support and guidance during the apprenticeship, for apprentice and company.
And if the apprentice leaves anyway: an honest exit conversation shows you what you can do differently with the next intake.
What apprenticeship dropout costs your company
Two figures from the BIBB cost-benefit survey for the 2022/23 training year help when you make the case to management or finance: an apprentice costs about €26,200 a year on average. Subtract the returns from their productive work, about €18,100, and about €8,100 remain. Hiring a skilled worker externally costs about €13,700 on average.
An apprentice who leaves in the first year costs you twice: once for training that produces no skilled worker, and once for the position you end up filling externally. Our apprenticeship savings calculator gives an estimate for your company.
Where digital learning support helps and where it doesn’t
For the three most common reasons, mental strain, wrong expectations and poor working conditions, no software helps. What helps there is an honest look before the start, good conditions and people who listen.
Digital learning support helps in two other places:
- With theory. In the electrical trades many topics build on each other, and a gap that opens early tends to stay. A tutor built on the official training framework (Ausbildungsrahmenplan) answers subject questions even when no trainer has time, and cites the source for every answer. That addresses a reason 24% name: the quality of teaching.
- With spotting problems early. When trainers see each apprentice’s progress against the learning plan, it becomes clear who has not moved forward for weeks. That does not replace a conversation, but it tells you who to talk to first. A digital training log gives similar signals sooner than a paper folder at the end of the month.
The MEKI project, funded under the federal InnoVET PLUS programme, follows a similar approach: the chambers of commerce in Reutlingen and the Stuttgart region are developing AI support for vocational school content together with universities in Stuttgart and Munich, for trades with high early termination rates and skills shortages, starting with IT systems electronics technicians.
How you introduce such tools matters: as support, not as control. Clarify with the works council and your data protection officer beforehand who sees which learning data. What this looks like in an industry with particularly strict security requirements is covered in our data check on apprenticeships in Germany’s defence industry.
Your plan for the next intake
- Get in touch between contract and start, once a month.
- Set the conversation dates now: weeks 2, 6 and 12, then every three months.
- Ask open questions and respond to the answers.
- Know the outside help before you need it: training advisers, VerAplus, Assisted Apprenticeship.
- Hold an exit conversation every time a contract ends early. Over time you will see where your company can act.
Sources
This article provides general information and does not replace legal, health or HR advice in individual cases.
All figures come from the following sources; we calculated the net cost per apprentice from the BIBB figures. Checked on 13 October 2026.
- BIBB: Datenreport zum Berufsbildungsbericht 2026, chapters A5.6 (early termination of training contracts) and C4 (MEKI project)
- Bertelsmann Stiftung: Ausbildungsperspektiven 2026, July 2026. Survey of 1,325 apprentices aged 15 to 25, 11 March to 20 April 2026
- BIBB: Costs and benefits of apprenticeships 2022/23
- German Vocational Training Act (BBiG): § 8 shortening, § 20 probation, § 22 termination
Written by
LearnSlice Team