The rationale for introducing non-academic admission requirements for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs is as follows:
Effective teachers possess both academic and non-academic capabilities. Research has shown that the best teachers are those who have academic capability, literacy and numeracy skills and personal characteristics (non-academic capabilities). Non-academic capabilities include motivation to teach, self-efficacy, willingness to learn, conscientiousness, engagement with learning, resilience, interpersonal and communication skills, organisational and planning skills, and written communication skills. Research has also shown that a personal written statement describing self-assessment of non-academic capabilities is a suitable means for assessing non-academic capabilities for teaching.
As mentioned above, non-academic capabilities are an essential characteristic of great teachers and introducing this admission requirement will support to achieve producing teachers of an extremely high standard.