Exxaro PIT Graduate Programme and Learnerships

Written by Thabo MokoenaSenior Education Editor

Reviewed & verified by Naledi KhumaloSenior Admissions and Bursaries EditorVerified

Exxaro Resources, the coal and energy company that runs the Grootegeluk, Matla, Belfast and Leeuwpan mines, brings young people into the business through three routes after school or university: a three-year Professional-in-Training (PIT) graduate programme, a graduate internship, and learnerships for people from its host communities. All three are recruited through Exxaro’s own online portals. When we checked in late September 2026, none had an open intake.

Exxaro’s student bursary, which is the main feeder into the PIT programme, has its own page: see the Exxaro bursary.

The three-year Professional-in-Training programme

The Exxaro Graduate and Student Hub describes PIT as a development programme for recently graduated engineers and other graduates, who are recruited, trained and prepared for careers in the company. Exxaro lists what the three years include:

• one-on-one coaching and mentoring;
• coffee sessions with senior leaders;
• an annual corporate event, which Exxaro’s bursary brochure calls the PIT Symposium;
• frequent rotations within the company;
• a structured learning approach aligned with the relevant professional body.

Exxaro’s bursary information brochure sets the entry level: a four-year degree at NQF level 8 or an Honours degree for PIT, and a three-year degree at NQF level 7 for the internship programme. The same brochure says the bursary exists to supply a steady flow of young professionals into both programmes. The company does not publish PIT salaries or a fixed recruitment date.

Learnerships trained at Grovos and the Colliery Training College

Exxaro says that 99% of its employees come from its host communities in South Africa, and it looks for high-potential people in the same communities for its trainee pipeline. They are placed in skills development programmes or given bursaries, internships or learnerships. Training is mostly in engineering and mining disciplines, at two centres:

• the Grovos Training Centre in Lephalale, Limpopo;
• the Colliery Training College in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga.

According to Exxaro, 89% of the learners on its learnership programmes in 2020 were black, and 38% were black women. The company does not publish the trades on offer, a learner allowance or the minimum school subjects for its learnerships on its website.

Where Exxaro posts graduate and learnership adverts

Exxaro runs a separate recruitment portal for early-career programmes, the Exxaro learnership and bursary portal, with categories for bursaries, internships, the graduate programme and learnerships. On 29 September 2026 all four categories showed no open adverts. Exxaro’s main vacancy portal listed five posts, including two for qualified artisans, and none was a learnership or trainee post.

The portal has a sign-up option for creating a candidate profile. Exxaro has not said when the next PIT, internship or learnership round will be advertised. Students looking for funding in the fields Exxaro trains in can look through mining engineering bursaries and artisan bursaries, or the Exxaro provider profile.

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