§ Baroness Blatchasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many teacher training courses have been approved.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Education and Science (Baroness Hooper)Courses of initial teacher training in England and Wales leading to qualified teacher status require the approval of the Secretary of State. All courses now being run have been approved, including some which have been temporarily approved. However, in 1984 the Government established the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and asked it to carry out a review of existing approved courses and newly proposed courses against new specific criteria. In the context of that review and in the light of the advice of the Council on the courses on which it has so far made recommendations the Secretary of State has so far approved, or confirmed his previous approval of, 69 courses at 28 institutions. The council is expected to complete its review before the end of 1989.