After completing his secondary schooling at Gore High School Travis successfully applied to undertake the automotive engineering pre apprenticeship course at Otago Polytechnic. In 2007 he was offered an apprenticeship with Southern Group Training and has been placed with Russell Keeler Autos for his on job practical training.

To complete the Level 4 National Certificate in Automotive Engineering Travis must complete a range of unit standards comprising both theory and practical elements. Travis’s off job theory training is through distance learning, which means that he needs to set time aside on a regular basis to complete his theory workbooks.

Apprentices request the workbook which is relevant to the work they are doing in the workshop so that, if at all possible, the theory they are studying compliments the practical work they are doing.

It is recommended that apprentices complete and send their theory workbooks away for marking every fortnight to ensure that they finish the theory work required in a good timeframe.