Chamber and committees

In March revised guidance was issued to Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) on PGCE intakes following:

• local authorities reporting not finding suitable training posts for the new teacher induction scheme they had expected (and upon which teacher training numbers had been based).
• the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) advising a large number of provisionally registered teachers experience difficulty in amassing the necessary number of days to apply for full registration.
• early indications showing that fewer teachers are taking up offers of early retirement.

• indications of higher conversion rates between those qualifying to those joining the profession as probationers.

Following receipt of the revised guidance SHEFC allocated the intake targets to institutions for courses of initial teacher education in 2002, as shown in the following table:SHEFC Intakes Allocated to Initial Teacher Education 2002-03

Institution	PGCE Primary	PGCE Secondary	BEd Primary	BEd PE	BEd Technology	BEd Music	Combined Degree	Total
Aberdeen	44	140	102	-	-	25	15	326
Dundee	48	-	68	-	-	-	-	116
Edinburgh	76	144	139	100	11	-	-	470
Glasgow	82	137	141	-	25	29	32	446
Paisley	35	47	81	-	-	-	-	163
Stirling	-	-	-	-	-	-	115	115
Strathclyde	119	337	169	-	-	-	30	655
Total	404	805	700	100	36	54	192	2,291

Advice offered to Scottish Higher Education Funding Council in March was that PGCE intake levels should be set at 404 in primary and 805 in secondary, and that this number would enable expected demand to be met, without producing an excess of supply which would be neither be in the interests of the individual students, nor the teaching profession as a whole.

In December 2001 the Scottish Executive's projections for total student teacher output at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in session 2002-03 was 1,085 primary graduates and 1,152 secondary graduates; to be made up from holders of four year Bachelor of Education (BEd) degrees and one year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).The Executive issued guidance to Scottish Higher Education Funding Council in February 2002 on initial teacher education that to meet this student output, intakes to PGCE courses should be 581 in primary and 1,000 in secondary. Subsequently, information became available from local authorities and others that caused this estimate to be reduced to 404 in primary and 805 in secondary. This revision was designed to meet the demand for teachers, without producing an excess of supply which would neither be in the interests of the individual students, nor the teaching profession as a whole.

The following table shows the Scottish Executive's projections student output required from (a) primary and (b) secondary courses of initial teacher education to meet the deficit at the start of the following session:Student output required to meet projected teacher deficit at the start of the following session

	2002-03*	2003-04**	2004-05**	2005-06**	2006-07**	2007-08**
Primary	907	1,033	1,080	1,103	1,208	1,272
Secondary	957	1,136	1,158	1,178	1,043	1,042
Total	1,864	2,169	2,238	2,281	2,251	2,314

Notes:* Reflects revision to previous estimates.** The 2003-04 teacher workforce planning exercise will take place in the autumn of this year. As part of this exercise, the Teacher Supply and Recruitment Strategy Group, which brings together representatives from the higher education institutions, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, the General Teaching Council for Scotland and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, will for the first time have available to it hard information on the number of probationer posts available in local authorities. This may to have an impact on demand for future years.

The Scottish Executive aims to provide substantive answers to questions as soon as practicable.

This is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I will ask the chairman to write with the details requested.

Unfortunately this was due to an administrative error.

This is a matter for the Scottish Qualifications Authority. I will ask the chairman to write with the details requested.

Proposals relating to music tuition for children and young people are currently being considered by ministers. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.

As indicated in the answer given to question S1W-27026, the Scottish Executive will provide revenue support towards a schools Public Private Partnership (PPP) project in South Lanarkshire involving capital investment of up to £150 million. The Executive will keep in touch with the council as it develops the project in detail. It will now be for the council to consider the components of such a project and its timescale. Financial support is required when the facilities to be provided through the PPP are available for use. Standard conditions will apply to the offer of revenue support.