Standards ‘still high’ at teacher training courses

Third-level leaders have given assurances that the standards of students taking up teacher training courses remain high.

Among the courses that were predominantly downward when CAO offers issued yesterday were some of the larger primary teaching degrees, which followed a 7.5% drop in students listing education degrees as their first preference. The fall to 4,735 first preferences was linked to more difficult employment prospects and a range of pay cuts to salary scales for new teachers in recent years.

Although the lowest points of entrants to the bachelor of education (BEd) degrees at the two largest providers — St Patrick’s College in Dublin and Mary Immaculate College in Limerick — are down year-on-year by 10 and five points to 460 and 465, respectively, one college president said the calibre of its students remains high.