Draft plans before the Welsh Assembly outline a model to enhance the professionalism of experienced teachers but at least one major union, the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, is not persuaded. Given costs of an estimated pound;2 million a year, the assembly government is unlikely to fund teachers on new courses.

Any comparison between Scotland and Wales should be clear about one key difference. Chartered teacher status north of the border is eventually rewarded by higher pay. Apart from the principal teacher route, this is the only way to gain a better financial reward.

In Wales and England, experienced staff who show they meet certain standards of performance already can climb the pay ladder through the “performance threshold”, a lesser test than faced by applicants for chartered status. It is therefore unlikely thousands of Welsh teachers would push themselves through two-year courses without the lure of additional payment.