Dundee University is set to lose over two thirds of its post-graduate primary teacher training places due to government spending cuts, it emerged on Tuesday.
The fall in student placements will be significantly higher than the national average - which is expected to drop by more than half, according to Scottish Funding Council figures.
The university, which is the only institution in Tayside and Fife to offer the course, will have its places on its post-graduate teaching course drastically reduced from 143 at the start of the current academic year to just 40 for 2010-11.
A spokesman said the cutbacks would not impact on staff numbers but said there was a risk that future teaching talent would be overlooked.
He said: "The size of the intake to the PGDE (Professional Graduate Diploma of Education) primary education course is determined by the number of funded places which are made available by the Scottish Government—we can only offer what we are funded for.
"Application rates for the programme have traditionally been very high and we are aware that competition to get on the course this year will be more intense than ever.
"The concern is that some well-qualified and skilled applicants who are eager to enter into teaching will not be able to gain entry but we are limited in what we can offer."
Around 1500 teacher training places are to be axed next year in Scotland. Trainee primary teaching will bear the brunt of cutbacks with numbers expected to fall by more than half from 2555 places this year to 1100 in the next academic year.
The government has said the move is designed to cut the growing number of teachers unable to find permanent jobs.
However, the news has drawn an angry response from student heads, union leaders and politicians who have called for an end to the “hire and fire regime.”
The university and College Union (UCU) Scotland criticised the government for slashing the numbers of new student teachers by over 40%. President Lesley McIntosh said: "These cuts do absolutely nothing to help Scotland, our schools or our teachers."
Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students Scotland, added: "Nobody wants to see students study for four years on a false hope only to find that at the end of all that hard work, there simply aren’t any jobs for them."
Tory spokeswoman for children, schools and skills MSP Liz Smith said: Many people give up other careers to go into teacher training and it is a huge worry, particularly at a time of severe economic recession, that so many are facing such a bleak future."
Labour’s education spokesman Des McNulty added: "The action will have serious long-term consequences for Scottish education and the same time will remove opportunities for young people who want to make up the next generation of educators."
