The purpose of this study was to provide guidance to policy-makers about the standards that might be appropriate for accrediting teacher education programmes. The study was commissioned by the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), a statutory body established in 2001 by the Victorian state government with responsibility for the registration (licensing) of teachers and the accreditation of teacher education programmes. The study investigated the characteristics of effective initial teacher education programmes, as reported by teachers who have just finished their first year of teaching. A survey instrument was distributed in 2004 to all registered teachers who had graduated from their teacher education programme in 2002, taught in 2003 and were now one month into their second year of teaching in 2004. In total, 1147 teachers returned completed questionnaires, from all universities in the state. Teachers who reported that they were well prepared to meet the demands of their first year of teaching were more likely to have completed courses that gave them deep knowledge of the content they were expected to teach, and how students learned that content, as well as skill in: diagnosing students' existing levels of understanding of the content; planning activities that would promote further development of understanding; and assessing the extent to which development had taken place. The paper concludes with implications for accreditation policy. (Contains 1 figure, 9 tables and 4 notes. Tables showing significant variation between teacher education courses in different universities are appended.) [Support for this study was given by Victorian Institute of Teaching.]