CONTROVERSIAL teacher training body Teach First has confirmed its interest in a new fast-track course for Scotland.

The education charity has said it was interested in winning a Scottish Government tender to deliver a new route into teaching.

Teach First, which currently operates in England and Wales, does not have a programme here, but attracts hundreds of Scottish applicants each year.

Concerns about how the organisation operates south of the Border include the fact students can be allowed to teach after some six weeks.

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Other concerns include the fact graduates who progress through Teach First are less likely to end up teaching than those from more traditional routes such as a university course.

The Scottish Government’s move to allow providers other than universities to train teachers has also been criticised - although any successful bidder will have to work in partnership with a university.

Teach First said any scheme in Scotland would need to be a “bespoke model” designed and delivered with a Scottish university.

Teach First director Reuben Moore said: “Tackling inequality in educational outcomes is at the heart of our charity’s work and we currently work in low-income schools across England and Wales.

“Our programme offers talented graduates an alternative route into the teaching profession, to help raise the attainment of pupils in need, strengthen the teaching workforce and develop leaders.

“Teach First has long believed that a bespoke Scottish programme could be an additional response to tackling the achievement gap in Scotland.”

Mr Moore said he was adamant any model in Scotland would be different from other UK programmes.

“We want to complement, not compete with, pathways that already exist and are very respectful of the long tradition of teacher education in Scotland.”

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Ministers acted to help solve a current crisis in school recruitment with shortages in key subjects such as science.

A spokesman for the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union said: "The EIS has always strongly opposed any approach which places delivering education cheaply above guaranteeing quality education provision for all Scotland's young people.

"Experience from England, where fast-tracking has been used, has highlighted significant concerns about the quality of this type of programme, low retention rates of graduates of these schemes and the high costs associated with this model.

"The way to attract more people into the profession is to enhance the status of teaching to make it an attractive career choice for highly qualified graduates. That means taking steps to halt the decline in teachers' real-terms pay over the past decade."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Developing new routes into teaching and making the training available to people from a whole range of backgrounds is key to attracting new teachers.

"We have committed £1 million from the Scottish Attainment Fund to identify and develop new ways for people to come into teaching, and will shortly be putting a new initiative out to tender designed to attract high quality graduates in priority areas and subjects.

"As we have said previously, any new route into teaching must be accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and will require a partnership with a university to maintain academic rigour and ensure programmes are of the highest quality."