ABSTRACT
Traditionally there were two different routes into teaching. A training college course of two years, which was extended to three years in 1960, from which a Certificate of Education was awarded. These courses provided both tuition in a major and minor subject to be taught in schools and included the study of education as well as periods of teaching practice in schools. A second way was by taking a three-year degree course followed by a one-year postgraduate certificate which included professional training. It was also possible to go direct into a school as a graduate without any professional training and this was the norm for most teachers who entered fee-paying schools although this practice gradually declined. In general students who attended colleges of education, initially known as teacher training colleges, taught in elementary schools in the inter-war period, then primary or secondary modern schools after 1944. Graduates were destined for secondary grammar and fee-paying schools although increasingly they were also recruited to secondary modern and comprehensive schools during the 1960s.
