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Scottish teacher training tests can encourage better entrants

Recruitment & Retention
A series of new tests to show aspiring teachers in Scotland whether they are suited to the profession reflects the “poor” literacy and numeracy skills of many trainees, according to a leading educationalist.

Government body Education Scotland has developed the online tests on grammar and basic arithmetic in response to the Donaldson report of 2011 – Teaching Scotland’s Future – which demanded an improvement in teacher training and recommended formal assessments for those entering university courses.

The questions are voluntary but are designed to test whether potential teachers have the right basic skills to enter the classroom. A separate grammar guide has been published for serving teachers not “fully confident” of how language works.

Lindsay Paterson, professor of education policy at Edinburgh University, said it was worrying that such tests were necessary but they could help encourage better entrants into teaching. 

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