The Government has announced the "biggest-ever" shake-up of teacher training, involving the rapid introduction of a national curriculum for universities and colleges.

From September next year teacher-training students will have to meet defined standards in subject knowledge and basic classroom skills before they are qualified to work in schools.

The national curriculum will cover: knowledge of subjects; what pupils should be taught; effective teaching and assessment methods; and standards of achievement expected of pupils.

Gillian Shephard, secretary of state for education and employment, who announced the reforms on Wednesday, said they were needed because it had become "increasingly obvious to everyone that too many newly qualified teachers, through no fault of their own, lack the teaching skills they need".

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The changes will initially be introduced to cover primary-level teaching in English and mathematics, areas which government chief inspectors have suggested are weak, despite mostly favourable Ofsted reports on university and college courses.

Mrs Shephard has asked the Teacher Training Agency to take the work forward "urgently", developing more tightly defined standards for all new teachers, to guarantee that whatever subjects they cover they can maintain discipline and teach effectively.

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She also wants more subject specialist courses for primary teachers to address weaknesses in subject knowledge which the Government says have held back achievement for eight to 11-year-olds.

In a letter to Geoffrey Parker, TTA chairman, Mrs Shephard says the most important new requirement will be the introduction of a defined National Teacher Training Curriculum for the core subjects of English, mathematics and science.

Mrs Shephard plans to amend the Teachers' Regulations to make it clear that the Secretary of State's course requirements for teacher training will be more detailed than the current reference to "criteria".

Announcing the proposals, she added: "I make no apology for the speed at which I am taking this forward. The need for improvement is urgent."

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University teacher training heads said they were "weary" of Government-imposed changes which appeared not to take account of reforms already underway.

Mary Russell, secretary of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers, pointed out that the latest set of instructions on how courses should be run only came into effect this month.