Most modern definitions of professions connect professional knowledge to higher scientific studies and a higher education degree. One example is Talcott Parsons’ definition of professions requiring formal technical training for the mastery of a generalized cultural tradition in a manner giving prominence to an intellectual component as applied to a particular field. Another is the definition of Eliot Freidson, which describes professions as links between high levels of formal education and rewards in the social division of labour. Basil Bernstein (2000) discusses this in relation to teacher education as professional knowledge based on and achieved following years of higher education training. This issue is discussed and illustrated in the present paper in relation to teacher education policy developments in two European countries; Sweden and England. Some common elements are described as is a tendency to turn away from scientific professional knowledge in the two countries in recent decades towards a more generic professional knowledge.