Although there is evidence that teacher emotional intelligence is important for pupil adjustment and  earning and for teachers in managing the emotional demands of their work, little is known about the levels of emotional skill of teachers and beginning teachers. Using Mayer and Salovey’s emotional intelligence (EI) model and the MSCEIT test of EI, this study investigates how emotionally skilled student teachers are (N ¼ 352). Results show lower than average levels of EI among student teachers, but with important differences between students and across emotional skill areas. The implications of the findings for pre-service teacher education are explored