The Scottish government has announced a full-scale review of teacher training ahead of next year’s launch of the Curriculum for Excellence.

Conducted by Graham Donaldson, the senior chief inspector at HM Inspectorate of Education, the review will not only evaluate training at the student stage, but also assess how teachers develop skills throughout their careers. It is scheduled to begin in January and will report in August, as the new winter terms begins.

The move comes in the wake of criticism of the Curriculum for Excellence, which has been billed as the most radical reform of the education system for a generation, and seeks to broaden pupils’ learning beyond a narrow focus on exams.

Earlier this week, Carole Ford, the outgoing president of School Leaders Scotland, warned the reform was impractical for teachers and might not be “fruitful for pupils”.

Agreeing that demands on teachers would change, Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, said the time was ripe for a thorough review of training.

“It is time to work out what is good, where the strengths are and where improvements and modernisations can be made,” said Ms Hyslop.

The Donaldson review would be “open and inclusive,” with no pre-formed conclusion, she added.

“He will be tasked with considering the full range of teacher education in Scotland — including initial teacher education, induction and continuing professional development,” said Ms Hyslop.

The SNP administration was attacked for what opposition politicians called a a “face-saving exercise” from ministers who had failed on teacher numbers.

“This review has been ordered to try and clean up a mess of the SNP’s own making,” said Des McNulty, Labour’s education spokesman. “The SNP’s concordat and the worst education settlement since devolution means that we have 1,000 fewer teachers in Scotland.”

It was a theme taken up by the Liberal Democrats. “This review also won’t help the teachers already in training who don’t have a job to go to,” said Margaret Smith, the party spokesman.

Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said it would be “critical” for the review to focus on standards and quality rather than cost and access.

“Teacher education must not be confined to teachers’ mastery of the Curriculum for Excellence,” added Mr Smith. “It will be important not to limit teachers’ professionalism, or to reduce teacher education to the mere acquisition of technical skills, but to enhance their ability to think critically and to take decisions informed by sound research.”

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