30 applicants are being called in for interviews in connection with this year's apprenticeship at INEOS Bamble and INEOS Rafnes. The process of conducting interviews will start next week," said Mariann Nilsen, training manager at INEOS Bamble.
As in previous years, there are a lot of people applying for apprenticeships in the INEOS companies in Telemark. This year's applicants for INEOS Bamble and INEOS Rafnes come from Porsgrunn, Siljan, Kragerø, Lunde, Bamble and Drangedal. In addition, this year there are also applicants from Vestfold.
The average grade of applicants has generally increased significantly in recent years, as vocational education has become increasingly attractive to young people.
"The survey shows that we continue to be among the most attractive industrial companies for apprentices in Grenland," said Stian Sem, HR Advisor at INEOS Bamble. He says that apprentices in a number of trades are taken in at the factories at Rønningen and Rafnes. Last year, apprentices were admitted in both the logistics trade, the industrial mechanic trade, the electrician trade, the laboratory subject, the automation subject and the chemical process subject.
This year's number of applicants ready
The deadline for applying for both upper secondary school and apprenticeship expired on 1 March. Figures from Telemark County Council show that it is becoming increasingly attractive for young people to take vocational courses. Educational programmes such as Electrical Engineering and Technology and Industrial Studies are well sought after this year.
- This year, 505 students applied for Technology and Industry subjects VG1. This is 20 per cent of all applicants to VG1 in the county
- 314 students from Technology and Industry are applying for an apprenticeship in Telemark this year
- This year, 216 applied for electrical subjects at VG1
- This year, 111 electrical students apply for an apprenticeship in Telemark
In 2026, there is still a clear gender distribution in the application for Technology and Industrial Studies in Telemark. This year the distribution was: 20% women and 80% men . However, there is somewhat less difference here than seen in this year's number of applicants for Health and Childhood Studies, where as many as 86% of the applicants are women and 14% are men.
Source: Most applicants for vocational education - Telemark county municipality