on average a teacher student is expected to graduate with teaching competencies in three main subjects but it is possible to graduate with just two main subjects the reform of initial teacher education also made special needs education and danish as a second language obligatory for all teacher students entry into teacher education used to be strictly based on marks obtained in upper secondary education but the dropout rates of students entering this programme used to be very high as much as in according to data from the ministry of higher education and science and statistics denmark and needed to be reduced