Reference year 2026
Version 2026
Drafted by Sandra D’Agostino, Senior Researcher, INAPP, Italy - Member of Cedefop Community of apprenticeship experts for Italy
1Scheme history
Legislative Decree 276/2003 introduced and first regulated the 3 types of apprenticeships. A substantial reform was later enacted through Legislative Decree 167/11, ‘Testo Unico sull'Apprendistato’ (Consolidated Text on Apprenticeships). The most recent legislative framework for Type 3 apprenticeship was established by Legislative Decree 81/2015 and related operational regulation (Interministerial Decree 12 October 2015).
The scheme originated ex novo as part of the 2003 reform of apprenticeships, drawing inspiration from the French model. It was conceived as a pathway to facilitate school-to-work transition for young people holding upper secondary or tertiary educational qualifications.
2Beneficiaries
As per article 45 of the legislative decree Nr. 81/2015, this scheme might be used to recruit young people aged minimum 18 years and not exceeding 29, holding at least an upper secondary school diploma or another qualification giving access to tertiary education.
According to the latest monitoring report (INPS-INAPP, 2024), of the annual average of 1,307 Type 3 apprentices recorded in 2022, 54% were aged between 25 and 29.
According to the XXII INPS-INAPP monitoring report, in 2022 the annual average of young people participating in type 3 apprenticeship in Italy was 1,307, representing the smallest share of all apprentices (0.2%). Compared to the previous year, data shows an increase of 129 apprentices.
In 2022, type 3 apprentices were mostly male (70,1%) and located in the Northern Regions (70,3%), reflecting the uneven geographical distribution of apprentices across the country.
Regional data indicate that 1,417 Type 3 apprentices were enrolled in various educational programmes during 2023. Most attended ITS programs (54,6%) or University courses known as “Master Universitari” (32,9%). In the same year, only 17 apprentices were employed by companies as researchers, and just one was completing the mandatory work-based learning period to qualify for a regulated profession.
3Qualifications
Through type 3 apprenticeships young people may obtain educational qualifications at EQF levels 5 to 8.
Subtypes devoted to researchers in private companies or to access regulated professions do not lead to qualifications included in the NQF.
According to ISCED 2011 mapping, the Type 3 scheme enables apprentices to achieve post-secondary (ITS) (ISCED 5) or tertiary level diplomas (ISCED 6 or 7) or a doctorate degree (ISCED 8) within the education system.
Apprenticeships subtypes for in-company researchers and to access regulated professions does not lead to formal qualifications in the Education and Training system, and therefore no ISCED level is assigned.
All educational qualifications achievable through Type 3 apprenticeships may also be obtained as a full-time student.
Type 3 apprenticeships lead to formal educational qualifications at post-secondary (higher technical specialisation certificates) and tertiary levels, such as bachelor, master’s or doctoral
degrees.
The subtype for integrating researchers in private companies leads to an occupational qualification, regulated by relevant collective agreements, which is not a formal one. The subtype to access regulated professions is a pathway to gradually practise the profession and develop skills needed to succeed in the State examinations and qualify as professionals.
Type 3 apprenticeship linked to formal qualifications is already positioned at higher education level, either academic or technical (ITS), that is tertiary or post-secondary. Access to further higher education programs follows the general regulations of the national education system.
To access the sub-types for practising as in-companies researcher or to enter regulated professions, young people must have already achieved at least a university master’s degree.
For type 3 apprenticeships leading to formal qualifications, the duration varies by programme. The shortest programme lasts one year, and the longest extends to three years. However, even in the longest programmes, enrolment may occur at the 2nd or 3rd year. For the subtypes involving in-company researchers and access to regulated professions, the duration is defined in the Individual Training Plan and according to the relevant collective agreements.
4Governance
There is no national-level organization with roles in coordinating the scheme. Beyond the provision set out in the Interministerial Decree 12.10.2015, the regulatory framework defining the training standards is delegated to the Regions and the Autonomous Provinces in co-ordination with Universities, ITS Institutes and other relevant institutions delivering the training.
For the subtypes concerning in-company researchers and access to regulated professions, the regulatory framework is remitted to social partners through the collective bargaining.
Employers’ and employees’ representatives play a limited role in shaping the content of Type 3 apprenticeships leading to formal qualifications. Through collective bargaining they primarily define apprentices’ wages and their classification in the sectoral grading system. However, they are usually involved in the consultative process preceding the adoption of apprenticeship regulations and the design of qualifications, alongside Unioncamere, which is the national body representing all chambers. Social partners may also influence apprenticeship contents in an indirect way, through their participation in the analysis and forecast of skills supply and demand.
It should be noted that sectoral councils do not exist in Italy.
For subtypes concerning in-company researchers and access to regulated professions, the social partners define contents and duration of apprenticeships through the collective bargaining
The current legal framework does not assign any role in implementing type 3 apprenticeships to chambers, employers’ and employees’ representatives. Their involvement is usually limited to promoting apprenticeships at the local or national level, mainly by providing support and assistance to companies.
The Ministry of Labour has primary responsibility for defining the legal framework for Type 3 apprenticeship and for establishing the minimum service levels guiding regional implementation. The national framework also sets out qualifications, apprenticeship duration, system level monitoring (entrusted to INAPP) and the role of social partners and other stakeholders.
Curricula development, programme delivery and assessment of learning are determined by the authorities responsible for each qualification program. The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Regions, oversees upper post-secondary education (ITS) including curricula development, school organization, monitoring mechanism (supported by Indire). The Ministry of University and Scientific Research oversees tertiary education, accreditation system for universities and curricula and quality assurance. Single Universities have primary responsibility for developing curricula and standard, delivering monitoring and assessing learning.
The Regions play a primary role in the implementation of Type 3 apprenticeships as they allocate financial resources to fund the off-the-job learning.
Public Employment Services play no role in relation to key apprenticeship functions.
Universities and other tertiary education institutions deliver learning programmes, develop curricula (according to national standards whereas applicable), monitor and assess learning outcomes.
Typically, Type 3 apprenticeships are offered by higher education institutions, which in Italy are commonly Universities; they employ professors from various disciplinary fields. In ITS programs, teaching staff may include upper secondary education teachers, but the majority are industry experts, who represent between 50% and 80% of all teachers.
Apprentices enrolled by company as researchers may receive some learning delivered by research centers, either public or private.
Apprentices who want to access regulated professions are mostly involved in work-based learning processes, where learning is provided by highly experienced professionals.
For apprentices, the individual training plan – a mandatory component of the employment contract - must specify, among other things, "the criteria and methods for initial, intermediate, and final learning assessment and... as well as measures for realignment, support, and recovery." The educational body (University or training centre) responsible for the off-the-job training oversees the monitoring and evaluating of learning outcomes, including admission to the final exams, in collaboration with the company tutor. Evidence of the progressive development of learning is documented in the apprentice's individual dossier, a nationally standardised tool.
The quality of learning must be ensured by the educational body within the framework of the quality assurance system established at national and/or regional level. This system is primarily based on the following pillars: accreditation of higher education institutions and programs, service provision standards set at the national levels, national certification system defining learning outcomes and assessment procedures, national quality assurance system for higher education.
The National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP) publishes an annual Monitoring Report on the Dual System and on Vocational Education and Training (IeFP), which provides an overview of employment in apprenticeships and of public training programmes for apprentices, planned by the Regions and Autonomous Provinces. These reports generally examine regional regulations, the training courses activated, and the number of participants, including the number of graduates. The latest edition was published in October 2024, in collaboration with the INPS (National Institute of Social Security).
In addition, the INPS provides some long term statistics on the labour market persistence of former apprentices after 5 or 10 years. However, these data refer to all apprentices as a whole, without distinguishing among the different apprenticeship types.
5Training at the workplace
The compulsory alternation is set out by law, but norms do not prescribe a specific model of alternation which must be agreed between the educational institution and the company.
For type 3 apprenticeships leading to formal qualifications, the distinction between training time and working time emerges from the Individual Training Plan, as a requirement set by law. This distinction is essential as the employer may remunerate in-company training hours only 10 % of the ordinary wage for working time.
There is no distinction between training and working time for apprentices qualifying for researchers and for those who want to access regulated professions.
For type 3 apprenticeships leading to formal qualifications, the alternation of training between workplace and school is set in the Individual Training Plan and mainly depends on:
• the total amount of school hours;
• the company’s production needs;
• the out-of-company training supply delivery structure, profile, contents (technical or basic/general skills) and organisation (e.g. it is quite different to attend a university course or a Doctorate course and to attend a course in a VET Centre).
Both sub-schemes for research activities and for accessing regulated professions may involve very limited alternation or none at all.
The training is implemented on the basis of the school- or university-based programmes and aligned to the same learning outcomes. However, there is some flexibility in the implementation as parts of the curricula may be delivered at the workplace and some competences may be developed through projects carried out in the companies. Some training standards and general criteria for implementing the schemes are defined by the Inter-Ministerial Decree of 15 October 2015, which specifies the maximum duration of the off-the-job-training and of the entire apprenticeship.
Besides this general overview, also the Individual Training Plan could be considered the link pin to the training programme, as this tool clearly defines the learning outcomes to be achieved by the learner in the two learning environments “Education or Training Institution” and “Company/Organization/Research Institution”.
No training standards are established either at the national or the regional level for both the sub-schemes for research activities and access to regulated professions.
Since Type 3 apprenticeship may lead to different kinds of qualifications, each based on a specific mix of general, technical and personal skills, it would be impractical to detail all intended learning outcomes. There is an extensive regulation covering all qualifications that are included in the National Register. It can be consulted through the “Atlante del Lavoro e delle Qualificazioni”, a tool developed by INAPP.
The training plan includes the out-of-company training supply delivery structure, profile, contents (technical or basic/general skills)
All apprenticeship contracts must be in written form and must include an Individual Training Plan, for which responsibility is shared between the school and the employer. Training companies are required to collaborate in designing the Plan and to deliver training accordingly. This tool is not only a formal instrument for scheduling the training activities of the apprentice but also a legal mechanism for monitoring the right progress of the combined training activities, within and outside the learning venue. The Inter-ministerial Decree 12/10/2015 also provides for additional tools to ensure transparency and to assess the acquisition of learning outcomes, like the “Individual Dossier”.
Art. 3 of the Inter-ministerial Decree 12/10/2015 defines the requirements for a company to be engaged in an apprenticeship contract. In order to enter such a contract, the company must meet the following requirements:
• “structural capacities”: availability of suitable spaces for in-company training and, when hosting apprentices with disability, the absence of architectural barriers;
• “technical capacities”: availability of instruments and supports allowing the implementation of internal training; instruments and supports must obviously comply with the in-force regulations;
• “training capacities”: availability of one or more company tutor(s) whose responsibilities and tasks are defined in art. 7 of the same Inter-min. Decree.
In accordance with art. 42 of Leg. Decr. 81/2015, sectoral or cross-sectoral collective agreements define the requirements for company tutors, whose role is established by law. Typically, these agreements state that the company tutor may be the employer (in SMEs), an employee from the same workplace, or, in some cases, an external company consultant. In all cases, the company tutor must already be qualified in the relevant occupation and have at least five years of professional experience. Many collective agreements indicate that a company tutor may supervise a maximum of five apprentices.
As for Interministerial Decree 12/10/2015, the company tutor facilitates the apprentice's integration into the company, supports and assists him/her in the on-the-job training, provides the skills necessary to perform work activities and … provides the school with all the information to assess the apprentice's performance and the effectiveness of the training process.
Art. 47 c. 1 and 2 Leg. Decr. 81/2015 describes employer’s responsibilities and consequences (sanctions) in case the in-company training is not delivered:
• If the employer fails to deliver in-company training, the employer has to deposit the difference between contribution already deposited and the contribution (owed to the employee) taking as reference the level of contractual placement that would have been reached by the employee at the end of the period of apprenticeship, increased by 100%.
• For violation of the provision of Article 42, paragraph 1 (regarding the general principles of an apprenticeship contract), as well as for the violation of the principles of collective labour agreements laid down in Article 42, paragraph 5, letters a), b) and c), the employer is punished with an administrative fine from 100 to 600 Euros. In the case of relapse administrative fine is increased from 300 to 1500 Euros.
6Contract and compensation
Apprentices have the double status of students and workers.
The apprenticeship employment contract must be in written form and must include an Individual Training Plan, whose responsibility is shared between the education/training institution, the apprentice and the employer.
Typical contents are the following:
• the final VET/educational qualification to be achieved;
• the initial date and total duration;
• the trial period duration;
• the contractual placement and wage;
• the compulsory attachment named “Individual training plan”, containing all training details, methodologies and learning outcomes;
• the legal and regulatory framework to be applied;
• the workplace and working time;
• the name of company tutor;
• the learning outcomes and the on-going assessment evaluation of expected
• the expected learning outcomes;
• other general clauses concerning safety, confidentiality and privacy.
From a legal perspective, apprenticeships are considered a specific type of contract because of their double purpose, that is working (for receiving a salary) and learning. At the end of the apprenticeship period, either the employer or the apprentice may terminate the contract, otherwise it automatically converts into an ordinary open- ended dependent (subordinate) employment contract.
Apprentices are entitled to the same protections as all other employees with respect to sick leave, holidays and vacation, other types of leave, retirement benefits and similar rights.
Data about activation/termination/variation of an apprenticeship contract must be communicated to the Ministry of Labour and social policies through the National Informative systems for Labour Compulsory Communications (COB).
All apprentices receive a wage paid by companies, which may be set (Leg. Decr. 81/2015, art. 42 c.4) “up to two levels lower in the sectoral classification system than those of a qualified employee” or as a “proportionate percentage of a qualified employee’s wage”, both increasing in relation to seniority”. The wage must be specified in the individual contract.
In-company training hours are remunerated at 10% of the ordinary wage. This percentage may be modified by National Collective Labour Agreements. No wage is due to apprentices for the external (school-based) training hours.
In addition to wage, companies are also required to cover some apprentice’s social security costs (art. 42 c.6 of Leg. Decr. 81/2015: insurance against job-related injuries and illnesses, ordinary illnesses, invalidity and old age; maternity, family allowance; employment social insurance).
The key elements for determining apprentices’ wages are established by the legal framework. Typically, the wage is calculated by applying these criteria to the amount agreed through collective bargaining in the sectoral agreement for the relevant qualification.
7Financing and incentives
Employers bear the costs of apprentices’ wages. They may benefit from tax reliefs and incentives designed to promote the recruitment of young apprentices, funded by the State, the Regions and Autonomous Provinces.
The employer covers all costs related to in-company training.
They may benefit from tax reliefs and incentives designed to promote the recruitment of young apprentices, funded by the State, the Regions and Autonomous Provinces.
The legislative framework envisages the possibility that Bilateral Interprofessional Funds (jointly established and managed by Social Partners) support companies for bearing these costs. There is limited evidence of this practice.
There are incentives common to all types of apprenticeship.
A favourable contribution scheme applies: the apprentice pays 5.84% of taxable wage for social insurance (instead of 9.19%) and the employer pays between 3% and 10%, or no contribution if the company has less than 10 employees (instead of 23%). Upon completion of the final qualification, the employer may benefit the same incentives for a further year if employs the former apprentice with another employment contract.
The annual State budget law may introduce additional incentives to promote the development of Type 3 apprenticeships, either at the national level or limited to certain Regions.
Currently, at the local level, companies can access informative material that is always available at Public Employment Services (PES) or Chambers of Commerce. Over the years, some Regions have developed guides and other informational tools to support companies in collaborating with schools. Universities and ITS institutions providing Type 3 apprenticeships usually realize and disseminate informative material.
The employer will not remunerate the time spent in the external training, that means
outside the company, as per art. 45, c. 3 of legislative decree Nr. 81/2015.
Procedures in place to recognise prior learning and to shorten the learning pathway accordingly.
Universities and other educational institutions must provide guidance for learners.
Financial incentives for apprentices are also available, primarily in the form of reduced social security contributions.