By Justin Parkinson BBC News Online education staff in Birmingham

Education minister Alan Johnson promised action

The education watchdog Ofsted found newly-qualified staff were monitored too little and not given enough advice on how to teach specialist subjects.

In response, the government has promised a "far-reaching" two-month consultation with colleges.

It has suggested mentoring by senior staff and more classroom assessment.

But the government said no more money would be made available for these.

Ofsted inspectors found a third of trainee sixth-form and FE college teachers did not have the equivalent of a GCSE grade C in English or maths.

Chief inspector of schools, David Bell, said: "This report raises some crucial concerns over the quality of further education teacher training.

"I am particularly worried that Ofsted's findings highlight grave concerns over the standards of nationally endorsed FE teacher training qualifications.

"Sadly, we cannot be confident that holders of nationally endorsed qualifications have met a consistent minimum standard by the end of their courses."

Support

Before 2001, there was no national requirement for FE teachers to be trained - although many colleges had encouraged staff to gain educational qualifications.

The Ofsted findings, which also suggest teacher-training course managers have insufficient details of entrants' qualifications, came at the start of the Association of Colleges' (AoC) annual conference in Birmingham.

On a visit, Further Education Minister Alan Johnson said the consultation on teacher training, due to end in February, would include "subject mentoring", where experienced staff helped those learning the job.

He also promised an "individual learning plan" and extra support to make sure students reached "satisfactory levels" in maths and English.

Mr Johnson said: "We need to do all we can to give teachers and lecturers and support staff the tools they need to do a great job.

"In-service training and support must be built on the sound basis of individual competence."

Mr Johnson said: "The inspectors found many examples of good practice in the sector, with some significant weaknesses.

"I want us all to work together to tackle this crucial issue."

In a recent guidance document, his department said it was in the process of defining the minimum levels of literacy and numeracy for new further education teachers.

Part-timers

The AoC's member colleges teach 660,000 students aged 16 to 18 as well as providing courses - including degree courses - for thousands more older students.

Its director of employment policy, Ivor Jones, said a consultation would be "constructive".

But he added that more than half the AoC's 230,000 employees were part-timers, with many drawn from industry and business.

Mr Jones said: "It is one of the great characteristics of the sector that colleges are able to connect so closely to business.

"We are very concerned that undue demands for training and qualifications will act as a deterrent for so many professionals wanting to undertake a small amount of college teaching, or to spend a short period of time teaching before returning to their industry."