Field-based initial teacher education (FBITE) is one of the delivery models of an accredited qualification for early childhood education teachers that exists in Aotearoa New Zealand.  Students undertaking FBITE are immersed in a vocation and as such become apprentices to their future careers as teachers during their three year full-time degree programme.  Literature reports that this model is growing in popularity and provides significant opportunities for students who choose to undertake their initial teacher education qualification in this way. However, it is not without tensions and uncertainties for these student teachers.  This study sought to understand the opportunities students were given while participating in FBITE and also any of the uncertainties faced by student teachers as they balance their academic and practice based responsibilities alongside memberships of their differing Communities of Practice. It also investigated factors that impact on student wellbeing as they negotiate the inherent tensions that inform and guide notions of best practice aspirations.  Using a socio-cultural contextual framework and a qualitative survey this study captures student teachers insights about their initial teacher education training in a time where uncertainty prevails in the early childhood education sector in Aotearoa New Zealand.  The study found a mixture of optimism and security for some but apprehension and uncertainty for others as they negotiated their roles as student and employee/volunteer in their practice communities and academic institution.   The study recommended that despite field-based programmes being well established there is merit and necessity in further understanding the positioning of student teachers in such a programme, in particular student teacher resilience.  These findings are useful in the context of Initial Teacher Education providers as they review and redevelop current programmes to better meet the needs of the early childhood education sector and curriculum requirements.