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A Scottish Office working group has called for a partnership approach to quality assurance in teacher training, with the government working alongside other bodies to ensure "streamlined" assessment, writes Olga Wojtas.

The group, chaired by Gerald Wilson, head of the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department, and including members from higher education institutions, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, was set up last February.

It says initial teacher education in Scotland should be subject to the same quality assurance procedures as the rest of the higher education sector, and the QAA should therefore be fully involved in the new arrangements. Scottish education minister Helen Liddell is seeking views by March 1.