The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Archive

Entry tests for trainee teachers to be toughened in bid to raise standards

Entry tests for trainee teachers to be toughened in bid to raise standards
27 October 2012
Aimee Latimer
Avatar
Aimee Latimer
27 October 2012

Entry tests for those wanting to train as teachers will become more difficult in an attempt to increase teaching standards. The decision comes after a panel of head teachers and education experts found the current exams, established in 2003, were too easy.

The current exams are taken towards the end of a teacher’s training and have a 98 per cent pass rate. From autumn, the pass grade will be increased and trainees will be limited to only two resits per paper.

In addition, new exams will be introduced with harder tasks. This will include word identification being replaced by longer written exercises, and simple maths by more complicated arithmetic and algebra. The candidates will need a score equivalent to a GCSE grade B to pass.

From September 2013, trainee teachers will have to pass the tougher exam before even attending a training course and those who fail three resit attempts will not be allowed to re-take the test for a further two years.

Education Secretary Michael Gove defended the new “rigorous selection” of trainee teachers: “These changes will mean that parents can be confident that we have the best teachers coming into our classrooms. Above all, it will help ensure we raise standards in our schools and close the attainment gap between the rich and poor.”

However, teaching unions have voiced criticism that the new exams place too much emphasis on those new to teaching, rather than the real problem of retaining current teachers in the field. Considering that over 10,000 teachers have recently left the profession, unions argue that teachers should be given more support and training once working.

It is also feared that new, tougher exams could cast doubt on the abilities of existing teachers, damaging already low morale in the education sector following criticisms that GCSEs have been too easy.

Aimee Latimer

Related Items

More in Archive

Achieve timeless elegance this S/S 2014 with S.I.L.K.

Ellie Owen
Read More

Bespoke jewellery by Charlotte Tamar

Niten Thakor
Read More

Enjoy designer luxury with Alexis Smith Lingerie’s A/W 2013 collection

Ellie Owen
Read More

Embrace vibrancy and colour with PPQ this winter

Ellie Owen
Read More

Kenzo Metallics adds the sparkle to you Christmas wardrobe

Niten Thakor
Read More

A Christmas alternative: Cranberry and Orange Jeweled Nut Bake

Bethany Stone
Read More

An Austique shopping guide: your one-stop shop for last minute gifts

Christianna Pugliese
Read More

A comforting twist to designer heels

Michelle McGill
Read More

Iain Duncan Smith condemned for refusing to meet with Trussell Trust

Abbie Cavendish
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Albert Adrià reopens Enigma on 7 June as a “fun-dining” restaurant and cocktail bar
    Food & Drinks
  • Paolo Nutini at the 100 Club
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Crimes of the Future: Three new clips from David Cronenberg’s dystopian body horror film
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Emergency
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Diary of a Fleeting Affair (Chronique d’une Liaison Passagère)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Don Juan
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Triangle of Sadness
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Emergency
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Triangle of Sadness
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Aftersun
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Paris Memories (Revoir Paris)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Inspired by the natural habitat: NKOYO winter scarves
Freeze Festival: Day 1 at Battersea Power Station