Teacher training tests proposed - graduate jobs

Selection processes in the training of graduates looking to become teachers in Scotland are to be trialled next year to make sure candidates have the required literacy and numeracy skills.

Scottish skills minister Angela Constance said measures would need to be taken "to ensure that the right people enter initial teacher education", and that ministers are working with teaching bodies to bolster selection processes.

Ms Constance's comments to MSPs came after a teacher education review published at the end of last year, "Teaching Scotland's Future".

The study, compiled by HM education inspector Graham Donaldson, favoured changes in entry to teacher training.

It was suggested that there could be tests in writing, reading and mathematics in order to drive up standards.

Ms Constance said: "Universities are autonomous institutions, with the right to select their own students. However, they must also accept that there is a legitimate wider public interest in who trains to become a teacher.

"As we discuss those wider ways forward on selection there are areas where we need to take decisive steps to ensure quality."