Students on one-year postgraduate teacher training courses will be exempt from tuition fees next session, Brian Wilson, the Education Minister, announced yesterday (Thursday). Most secondary trainees will now have two of their five years’ studying free of fees.
Douglas Weir, dean of the education faculty at Strathclyde University, welcomed any relaxation but cautioned: “It is not a tuition fees issue, it is a total debt issue.”
Professor Weir said students are more concerned about their overall debts than the smaller sums involved in tuition fees.
The minister’s statement confirms all undergraduates on teacher training courses will pay in line with a sliding scale of charges, including students training to be primary teachers on bachelor of education courses and those on joint academic and teacher training degrees.