Pupil-teachers acted as a teacher of younger children, learning from observation and practical application, while simultaneously completing their own educations.
[1] It was widely criticized for its inability to provide adequate professional preparation, in the 1870s and 1880s, pupil teachers began being offered instruction at centres nationwide throughout Britain, which were designed to improve their training.
The centres provided professional training by the best teachers in the elementary school system, but were not standardized.
Upon completing their own education, pupil teachers were required to pass examinations to begin their own independent teaching.
In some cases, the pupil teacher system was used as a stepping-stone to provide a basis of payment for secondary education before students were able to attend regular normal school training.