Scottish Council for the Validation of Courses for Teachers (external qualification validators: 1983-1991: Scotland)

The Scottish Council for the Validation of Courses for Teachers was founded in January 1983 as an external body to validate teaching courses in Scotland. The Council was formed through an agreement of the 8 Scottish universities and the seven Scottish Colleges of Education, namely the University of Aberdeen ; University of Dundee ; University of Edinburgh ; University of Glasgow ; Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh ; University of St. Andrews ; University of Stirling ; University of Strathclyde, Glasgow ; Craigie College of Education, Ayr ; Dundee College of Education ; Jordanhill College of Education, Glasgow ; Moray House Institute of Education, Edinburgh ; St Andrew's College of Education, Glasgow , Aberdeen College of Education ; and Dunfermline College of Education . Each of these institutions was represented on the Council along with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities , General Teaching Council of Scotland, National Committee for In-Service Training of Teachers , The Open University , a Scottish Education Department (SED) assessor, and a Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) observer.

The Council grew out of the report The Future of In-Service Training in Scotland (the "Green Report") written by the National Committee for In-Service Training of Teachers and submitted to the Secretary of State in 1979 and subsequent reports from a Scottish Working Group. From the outset, the Council aimed to work closely with the SED, the CNAA and other relevant bodies.

The original terms of reference of the Council related only to the validation of in-service training of teachers but the Council agreed that pre-service training should also be part of the Council's remit. This was partly due to the new 4-year Primary Bachelor of Education (Primary BEd) that was due to be launched in Scotland at this time and with the permission of the member institutions pre-service validation was added to the Council's remit within the first year of the Council's formation.

The Council consisted of a number of committees: Working Party on Validation Guidelines and Procedures; Standing (Advisory) Committee for Degree Courses and a Standing (Advisory) Committee for Diploma/Certificate Courses; Validatory Panels formed on an ad-hoc basis for individual courses proposed; and a Convenor's Committee, which acted as a finance committee and also as a short-notice committee brought together to deal with urgent business that could not wait until the next Council meeting.

The Council met roughly every three months and was funded initial by the Scottish Universities and Colleges and subsequently through capitation based on the number of students per course being validated. Meetings were held in rotation at the various member institutions.

In 1991 there was a major overhaul of the Higher Education system following the Government's White paper Higher Education: A New Framework. As a result, the need for an external body to validate teaching courses in Scotland was in question and in October of that year the Council was put into abeyance pending an announcement of the Scottish Office Education Department.

From the guide to the Records of the Scottish Council for the Validation of Courses for Teachers, external qualification validators, Scotland, 1983-1991, (Glasgow University Archive Services)