THE training of Scottish primary teachers is to be given a radical overhaul by a leading university.

Student teachers at Edinburgh University's Moray House School of Education will now spend the entire third year of the four-year course working in a school.

Under previous arrangements, students would take part in practical classroom experience for ten weeks in each year of the course.

University officials believe the move – the first in Scotland – will give student teachers a more valuable experience.

Under the changes, students will also study one of six specialist subjects to honours level alongside the primary education course.

The subjects are maths, earth science, history, German, religious studies and Scottish studies.

Dr Ann MacDonald, director of both the current and new programmes, said: "By offering programmes which com-bine education with the study of many challenging university subjects, we have raised the bar for primary education."