If you've applied to study PGCE Primary (in either age phase) and have met the entry requirements, we'll be delighted to invite you to an interview.
The interview is an opportunity for you to showcase your potential and to learn more about your chosen course. Once you have completed your interview we will be able to make a decision about your offer.
At the moment, all PGCE Primary interviews are conducted online via Microsoft Teams, making it easy for you to take part from home.
Continue reading for more information on how to prepare and the tasks you need to complete ahead of your interview.
Interview process
There are three key parts to the University-led interview:
- A reflection on professional practice (Scenario Written Task)
- A children's literature presentation task
- Interview questions around understanding teaching and learning
The interview will last up to one hour and is designed to be a safe, friendly space where you can demonstrate your potential to train to teach. Your interviewer will be one of our experienced tutors, so you will have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the course as part of the interview.
Reflection on Professional Practice (Scenario Written Task)
This particular task is to be completed ahead of your interview. We'd like you to choose one scenario from the list in the document linked below.
Read it carefully and spend a little time thinking about it. Reflect on what it makes you think and feel about teaching. You will then need to handwrite no more than 200 words in response to your chosen scenario. Send a clear photo or scan of your work to your tutor before your interview. An example can be found in the document below, so you know what we're looking for.
Please note that your interviewer may ask you to expand on your writing during the interview itself.
Children's literature presentation task
In this section of the interview, you're required to conduct a 5-minute presentation based on a story book of your choice that you feel would be interesting and relevant to children in your relevant age range.
Your presentation should include:
- A rationale for your choice of story book.
- Reading a section of the text for 2-3 minutes as though you are reading to a class of children.
- Sharing questions that you might ask the children in response to reading the story, to generate a class discussion.
- Outlining briefly how you might use this text in the classroom.
Some top tips
In choosing your book, try to find a text that you find interesting. Do your research. There are a lot of options to choose from. You could look at this list for some ideas about which text to choose: Book lists | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (clpe.org.uk)
It is important that you have the book to hand during your interview. If you need to, please visit the children’s section of your local library to source your book or even browse some charity shops as they often have some cheap, high-quality texts in their book selection.
When thinking about activities that might springboard from the text, don’t forget to identify potential links to the wider curriculum (i.e. how does this text relate to science, history, etc?)
Interview questions
During the final part of your interview, your interviewer will ask you some more detailed questions about your understanding of teaching and the role of the class teacher.
We love talking about teaching – and we're interested in hearing your thoughts and opinions about what's happening in the world of primary education at the moment. Be prepared to talk about yourself and why you think you'd make a great teacher.
It's always good to prepare to talk about a particular issue in education that interests you – and don't be afraid to ask questions too.
To help you prepare, we've included some of the questions you might be asked in the document linked below. Please note, you may not be asked all of the questions we've listed, and if your interviewer is interested in what you have to say, they may ask some additional questions of their own.
Delivery Partner-led interviews
For information on the Delivery Partner-led interview process, please visit your chosen school provider's website.
You will be contacted directly by your school with details of your interview, including how to prepare.
Got a question?
If you have any questions about PGCE interviews or the admissions process, please contact our friendly admissions team: