Short answer: no, you don't need to take time off work to turn your years on the tools into a nationally recognised qualification. That's one of the biggest worries we hear from blokes thinking about getting qualified — they reckon they'll have to down tools, book in for TAFE, and lose a pile of income while they sit in a classroom. The good news is it doesn't work like that anymore. Here's how you can get your experience recognised while you keep working full-time.
Getting qualified through All Pathways isn't about going back to school. It's about proving you can already do the work — because you've been doing it for years. Instead of learning skills from scratch, the process is built around gathering evidence of what you do on the job every day.
That means the work you're already doing is the study. Putting up a frame, prepping a surface, cutting in a clean line — those are the skills being assessed. You don't need to recreate them in a classroom when you're doing them on site every week.
The whole thing is done online, at your own pace. There's no set start date, no fixed class times, and no need to clear your diary. You log in and work on it whenever suits you — after knock-off, on a rainy day when the job's called off, or over a weekend with a coffee.
Most of the evidence comes from things you're already around:
You build it up bit by bit. There's no pressure to finish in a hurry, and you won't be losing a single day's pay to get it done.
Right now, All Pathways helps experienced tradies work towards:
If you've been doing either of these trades for a good while without the paperwork to show for it, this is a way to get your skills on the record — without stepping away from your work.
That's up to you. Because there's no timetable, the pace is in your hands. Some blokes knock the evidence over quickly because they've got plenty of recent work to show. Others take it steady over a few weeks or months, fitting it in between jobs.
What matters is the quality of the evidence, not how fast you go. The aim is to put together a complete picture of your skills so it's ready to hand to the partner Registered Training Organisation (RTO) for assessment.
It's worth being upfront here: getting qualified isn't guaranteed. Whether you're assessed as competent depends on your evidence meeting the requirements for each unit, and that decision is made by the partner RTO — not by us. Our job is to help you gather strong evidence and present it properly.
We keep this simple and clear:
That's it. No hidden fees, and nothing extra to find. And because there's no time off work involved, you're not bleeding income while you do it — which makes the whole thing a lot easier on the wallet.
You've already put in the hard yards on the tools. Getting that experience recognised shouldn't mean giving up work or sitting in a classroom. Doing it online, at your own pace, around your job, is exactly what makes this approach work for busy tradies.
If you reckon you've got the skills but not the certificate, the first week's free — have a look and see what your experience could be worth.
Answer a few quick questions and set up your pathway — first week free, then $20/week, cancel anytime.
Find your qualificationWorking FIFO and want to get qualified for the skills you already have? Here's how to build your evidence around a fly-in fly-out roster, at your own pace.
Read more →29 June 2026No formal training, just years learning from a mate on site? Here's how your hands-on experience can still be turned into a recognised trade qualification.
Read more →29 June 2026Wondering if casual or part-time trade work counts towards getting qualified? Here's how your real experience can be turned into a recognised qualification.
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