Education Interview Guidance
Preparing for your interview
Observe the world around you
What stories and events are affecting education (particularly the phase you wish to train to teach, i.e. primary, secondary or post-compulsory education)? What’s your opinion on the latest news?
Research and understand the role
Could you meet the expectations? Have a clear view of why you want to be a teacher.
Work experience
Experience in a school is not essential to making an application. However, it does help you to know more about life in the setting you wish to teach in and will give you some personal experience to reflect on.
What are you going to wear?
We need to see that you understand what appropriate professional attire is for a teacher. So decide what you’re going to wear in advance so you can check it’s clean and presentable!
BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS / PGCE Primary and Early Years courses
In preparation for your interview day:
- Please have a form of photo ID such as your passport or driving licence ready to show your interviewer at the start of your interview.
- Please have evidence of your completed Keeping Children Safe in Education declaration form.
- Make a note of any questions you wish to ask on the interview day.
- Read through the documents detailed the interview guidance (sent to you via email with your interview invite) – the Sutton Trust report and the Teachers’ Standards – DfE 2012.
- Complete a self-declaration of any information that would make them unsuitable to work with children prior to interview. The purpose of the self-declaration is for applicants to have the opportunity to share relevant information and allow this to be considered before the DBS certificate is received.
- Prepare for the interview through the pre-interview reading and preparing for your 5-minute interview as per the guidance document emailed to you.
- The interview process begins at either 9am or 1pm depending on your interview booking and please ensure you are available for the whole morning (until 12.30pm) or afternoon (until 4.30pm).
- A meeting link for the Introduction and Presentation task will be emailed to you the day before your interview.
- Make sure you can access and use Microsoft Teams with a functioning camera and microphone. Microsoft Teams is available as a free app to work on most mobile devices and it will also work through a PC or laptop via most operating systems. You can download the Microsoft Teams app for free. Microsoft Support has technical guidance should you need it.
BA (Hons) Secondary PE with QTS
In preparation for your interview day:
- Please have a form of photo ID such as your passport or driving licence ready to show your interviewer at the start of your interview, along with any other evidence you’ve been asked to show.
- Please have evidence of your completed Keeping Children Safe in Education declaration form.
- Complete Task 1 in the interview guidance document and email it to the email address given.
- Prepare for the discussion (task 2 as detailed in the interview guidance document)
- Make a note of any questions you wish to ask on the interview day.
- Read through the documents detailed the interview guidance (sent to you via email with your interview invite) – the Sutton Trust report and the Teachers’ Standards – DfE 2012.
- Make sure you can access and use Microsoft Teams with a functioning camera and microphone. Microsoft Teams is available as a free app to work on most mobile devices and it will also work through a PC or laptop via most operating systems. You can download the Microsoft Teams app for free. Microsoft Support has technical guidance should you need it.
Secondary PGCE courses
In preparation for your interview day:
- Please have a form of photo ID such as your passport or driving licence ready to show your interviewer at the start of your interview.
- Please have evidence of your completed Keeping Children Safe in Education declaration form.
- Plan your Subject Teaching activity and make sure you bring your own notes and any materials you will need on the day (see the interview guidance sent to you with the interview invite for details about the Subject Teaching activity).
- Make a note of any questions you wish to ask on the interview day.
- Read through the documents detailed the interview guidance (sent to you via email with your interview invite) – the Sutton Trust report and the Teachers’ Standards – DfE 2012.
- Email your Subject Knowledge Audit (Gap Analysis) to the Leader for your subject at least one working day before your interview.
- Make sure you can access and use Microsoft Teams with a functioning camera and microphone. Microsoft Teams is available as a free app to work on most mobile devices and it will also work through a PC or laptop via most operating systems. You can download the Microsoft Teams app for free. Microsoft Support has technical guidance should you need it.