Metacognition, which involves the monitoring, regulation and control of cognitive processes, is a critical component of learning and achievement. It has become a key component of student teachers’ professional development and classroom practices. This narrative review has analysed empirical evidence from national and international studies between 2010 and 2024 on the metacognitive awareness of pre-service teachers. The researcher relied exclusively on secondary data. The findings demonstrated that student teachers generally display intermediate levels of metacognitive competencies, with significant differences observed across gender, field of study, teaching experience and teaching context. Moreover, higher metacognitive awareness is positively related to academic performance, classroom management and self-efficacy, suggesting its impact on improving instruction and learning outcomes. Although pre-service and inservice teachers possess certain metacognitive knowledge, they lack the metacognitive regulation and application of this knowledge in the classroom. The review highlights the importance of intentionally incorporating metacognitive elements into teacher education programs and more longitudinal and crosscultural studies to understand developmental patterns and contextual variables that affect the growth of metacognitive awareness of the student teachers.