How it works
One system for the whole apprenticeship.
Three parts working together: the courses, the field tracking, and the records. Your office stops being the integration layer.
The courses
Apprentices study on their own schedule from any device. Seat time is enforced for real: active time tracking, idle detection, and per lesson minimum minutes that gate completion. Audio narration carries the apprentice through every lesson, because most techs would rather listen than read after a ten hour day.
The field tracking
The Mettle app runs on the apprentice's phone and works offline. They log hours against work process areas as they happen. The mentor gets a weekly queue and signs off in minutes. Approved hours lock permanently; corrections are new entries with a trail, never edits. Your wage progression triggers come from real data.
The records
Every apprentice has a live transcript combining course progress and signed OJT hours. Export per apprentice summaries, hour reports, and competency records formatted for submission. Records retain for three years past completion automatically.
What your office sees.
A roster. Green means on track, yellow means behind, with the exact hours behind shown. Wage step alerts when an apprentice crosses a threshold. No chasing paper timesheets, no end of year reconstruction.
And the record behind every name.
Click any apprentice and the whole picture is there: hours by work process area against targets, the weekly trend, and every mentor sign off with dates and hours. This is the record you hand the state, kept live instead of rebuilt at audit time.
The transcript you print and hand over.
One document per apprentice: the program standard, hours by work process against targets, every signed attestation, course progress with enforced seat time, and wage progression. Print it with a certification block or export it per apprentice.
Approved hours are locked the moment they are attested, so the transcript is the audit trail, not a reconstruction of one.
Honest answers
Is Mettle a registered apprenticeship sponsor?
Not yet. Today Mettle provides the instruction and tracking platform; your apprentices stay registered under your existing program arrangement. A national program registration is on the roadmap. If you are not registered anywhere yet, book a walkthrough and we will talk through what your state requires.
Does online instruction count for RTI?
Virginia DOLI accepts online related instruction with appropriate seat time records, and Mettle was built around that requirement, including by enforcing and documenting actual active study time per lesson. Your state apprenticeship agency has the final say for your program.
What does it cost?
Per apprentice annual pricing, set at launch. Leave your email and pricing comes with the enrollment announcement.
Who writes the content?
Brian Norton, Virginia master HVAC, master plumber, master gas fitter. Every lesson is self authored. No licensed publisher content.
Get launch updates.
Book a walkthrough if you want the live tour.