A Padawan, Padawan learner, or Jedi Apprentice in Basic, referred to a Force-sensitive adolescent who had begun one-on-one instruction with a Jedi Knight or Master outside of the Jedi academy. Having passed the Initiate Trials and ascended in rank from an Initiate, Padawans were given more responsibilities within the Jedi Order but were subject to the demands of their master.

Throughout the early history of the Jedi Order, the role of an apprentice changed drastically as war and purges forced the rule of the Jedi High Council to bend or become flexible. During and before the Old Sith Wars, Knights and Masters would take on numerous apprentices, training them at their own praxeums or private residences without any direct oversight by a council. Using the term Apprentice to denote their position as a student, many of these students become great Knights and Masters themselves. However it was noted, specifically with the famous incident of Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma and their disastrous fall to the dark side of the Force, that this style of education may not be as conducive to the Jedi Code as previously thought.

At some point after the Great Sith War, the High Council was first convened and set in place the bylaws of the Order. During this period, the term Padawan was introduced and Masters were restricted to taking only one at a time. Over time, as the Order flourished, the High Council decided to enforce even stricter standards such as a cut off age for Initiates to be selected for apprenticeship. At the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, which housed the largest of the academies of the era, an annual Apprentice Tournament was created to not only test the students at the academy, but also to aid in the selection of apprentices by prospective masters. While it set the rules of the Order, the Masters on the High Council typically avoided direct involvement in this selection, preferring instead to allow the Force to bring a Master-Padawan pair together.