Two additional universities to offer Teacher Education in Scotland

Queen Margaret University and Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland is set to offer Initial Teacher Education courses for the first time next year.

Supported by a £1.3 million investment from the Scottish Government, the courses will start in August 2019 and create hundreds more opportunities in the Edinburgh area for people to qualify as teachers.

Edinburgh Napier University will initially offer a total of 30 places on PGDE courses with a focus on maths and sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics).

From there they plan to expand provision into other subject areas such as English and computing to a maximum of 150 places after an initial three year period.

Queen Margaret University will offer an undergraduate primary course with capacity for 120 students as well as a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (home economics) with 20 places available.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Teachers have a key role to play in helping us raise standards and close the attainment gap. That is why we are doing everything we can to attract talented and enthusiastic people to the profession.

“We recognise that, in common with many other countries, it is hard to recruit teachers in the numbers we need, particularly in certain specialist subjects.

“Adding two additional universities to the institutions that offer Initial Teacher Education, supported by £1.3 million investment from the Scottish Government, means we can not only recruit additional teachers to take up post within the next two years but build capacity within teacher education.”