Trades / Apprenticeships
Apprentice training software for trade businesses
An apprentice learns most of the job from whoever they're working beside. With Howio you set out how your business does each job, so every apprentice is shown the same way and you keep a record of what they've completed.
The Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board in New Zealand runs its online CPD on Howio. 7,339 practitioners completed it in 2025.
Every apprentice learns the job a little differently
A first-year works beside three different tradespeople in a month, and each one does the job their own way. Your most experienced person spends hours showing the same thing again to the next starter. In New Zealand, apprentices in the regulated trades work under supervision, and in plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying they have to work in their supervisor's presence for their first 12 months. The Health and Safety at Work Act also requires your business to make sure the people who work for you are properly trained and supervised. Showing someone once on site is hard to repeat for the next apprentice, and it's harder still to prove later.
How Howio helps
Show every apprentice the same way, and keep the record
Build it from what you already have
Describe what you want, or drop in a manual, a video your best tradesperson shot on site or your own photos, and the AI course builder turns it into a draft course you can edit to match how your business works. If you don't have images, you can create them in the course builder.
Done on a phone, between jobs
Send a link by email and each apprentice opens the course in their phone browser. There's no app to install and no account to set up.
A record of what each apprentice has done
Search for an apprentice by name and see which courses they've completed, the date and their score. Their supervisor can check what they've been shown before they start a job.
Refreshers that come round on time
Set automated reminders for the refreshers that matter, and issue a certificate on completion that renews automatically when it's due. Certificates can carry your branding and be added to a LinkedIn profile.
What trade businesses build with Howio for apprentices
Each person sees the courses that match their role, so a first-year and a fourth-year get different training.
First-week induction
A first-week induction, covering how your business works and who to call.
First jobs
Your method for the first jobs an apprentice will do.
Tool and equipment safety
Tool and equipment safety, shown step by step.
Site rules
Site rules, and what to do before starting on a new site.
A finished job
What a finished job should look like, with photos of your own work.
Scenarios
Branching scenarios, such as what to do when something doesn't look right.
Where Howio fits alongside the apprenticeship
Your apprenticeship provider delivers the qualification. Howio is for the part that belongs to your business: how you work, on your jobs, with your tools. The two sit side by side.
Case study
A New Zealand trade regulator runs its licence CPD on Howio
The Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board runs its online CPD on Howio, and 7,339 practitioners completed it in 2025. They do their training in a browser on whatever device they have, at a time that suits the job they're on. You use the same software to train your apprentices.
Looking for something else?
If you run training for a register, a membership or an apprenticeship programme, see how Howio works for regulators and for associations.
If you're looking to become an apprentice, Howio isn't the place to apply. An apprenticeship provider for your trade can help.
Questions about apprentice training software
- What is apprentice training software?
- Apprentice training software is what a trade business uses to build its own training for apprentices, send it to them and keep a record of what each one has completed. Howio is built for people who work on site, so courses run in a phone browser.
- Does Howio replace our apprenticeship provider?
- No. Your provider delivers the qualification. Howio covers your own business's training, such as inductions and your way of doing each job.
- Can apprentices use Howio on site?
- Yes. Courses open from an emailed link in a phone browser, so they can be completed on site or between jobs.
- Can I see what each apprentice has completed?
- Yes. Search for the apprentice by name to see their status, results and completion date.
- Does Howio connect to Simpro?
- Yes. Howio integrates with Simpro, as well as payment, sign-in and CRM systems.
Try it with your first-week induction
Start a free trial and build your first course from what you already tell every new apprentice, or book a demo and we'll show you how a trade business would set it up.