SCOTTISH school teachers should undertake regular work experience in industry to ensure lessons are relevant to the real world, according to a Government-backed study.

The practice would also enable teachers to better communicate what is expected of pupils when they leave school.

The paper states: "This is about teachers undertaking research trips and short spells of work experience in modern industry."

The suggestion is contained in a report commissioned by the Scottish Government that highlights ways to improve the experience of pupils as they move from school to work, college or university.

The report – compiled by a Glasgow-based company called Snook that works with the public sector on issues of social change – contains a raft of other suggestions.

The document says the views of pupils should be taken into account when a school is designing its curriculum and suggests Scottish universities and colleges should give feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

It states: "This was an extremely popular option with students who wanted to understand why they hadn't been successful in attaining a position."

However, it was the suggestion teachers should spend more time undertaking work experience, rather than being in the classroom, that sparked most criticism.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union, said the idea would be difficult to implement. He said: "This report reaches some interesting conclusions, but not all of them are particularly practicable or based on the current economic realities facing schools.

"Frankly, most teachers reading the report would question the value of it at a time when they are working flat out to deliver the new school curriculum – a development that isn't referenced once.

"On the suggestion teachers be encouraged to take up industry placements to broaden their experience, the simplest response is that this isn't new.

"Many teachers have taken advantage of work placements in the past, but these opportunities have dried up recently because of the costs of covering classes."

However, Lauren Paterson, a senior policy executive for CBI Scotland, welcomed the suggestion.

She said: "This is something we would be sympathetic towards as it would allow teachers to relate what is happening in the wider world back to pupils."

A Universities Scotland spokeswoman said it would be very difficult for institutions to give feedback to the thousands of students who fail to get a place every year.

Other ideas in the report include work experience for pupils beginning as early as the first year of secondary school to make better connections between the world of work and a pupil's choice of subjects.

The Snook report also suggests pupils should experience a mandatory week of taster classes for different subject areas before making their choices.

It states: "Students would not be allowed to choose subjects unless they had experienced them."

There was also a suggestion all pupils should be given a school leaving certificate after completing their studies.

A key element would include documentation of the skills they had learned and demonstrated during their school career from leadership to team work.