Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of a student teaching internship program on the self-efficacy of pre-service teachers in China. Design/methodology/approach: With 1,367 participants, structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the fit of the hypothetical model and a latent path analysis was conducted to identify the relationship among various variables. Findings: The results suggested that the program had a significant impact on efficacy in terms of personal skills, general teaching skills and personal qualities of the student interns concerned. Although this study was set in rural China, the findings of this study offered insights for teacher education in other places. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, no research studies have been conducted on this in-service teacher training program in a systematic and comprehensive way using a large sample size and involving all major stakeholders. The aim of the present study is to fill this gap, by exploring the experience of a large cohort of pre-service teachers participating in this student teaching internship program. Studying the experiences of these student teachers will illuminate some of the key challenges faced and how they impacted their teaching and learning during their teaching practices in rural areas. The findings may help teacher education institutions to review and enhance their existing approaches to teaching practices and professional development initiatives not only in rural China but in similar contexts in other countries.