Each university will have its own format for interviews so to find out exactly what to expect on the day it’s best to talk to the universities you’re applying to directly.
The interview, in addition to your personal statement, is your chance to prove to the admissions tutor that you’re worthy of a place on their course. When you’re up against hundreds of other applicants with the same academic record as you you’ll need to make sure that you have a strong personal statement and that you’re confident in your interview.
Good preparation is the key to being confident in your interview. If you know you’re well prepared then you’ll be able to walk into the interview and convince the interviewer(s) that you’re the right person for their course.
Interviews for teaching courses are often in a group setting so you’ll be interviewed with other candidates.
In a group interview it’s important to make sure your voice is heard, but don’t talk over other candidates. Interviewers are usually good at ensuring that everyone gets a chance to speak but don’t be afraid to speak up first or give a contradicting view point to everyone else.
A group interview could also involve some element of teamwork – including being put into pairs and having to answer such as “What qualities does a good teacher possess?” You might then have to feed your answers back into the group.
You may also have to do workshop based tasks – for example, creating a television advert about why teaching is a good career option.
Again, be confident enough to take the lead but try not to dominate the group or overshadow other candidates.
You could be given an individual interview as well as, or instead of, a group interview.
This might be on a one-to-one basis with an interviewer or in a panel interview setting. The panel could include an admissions tutor, a senior student, and/or someone from the faculty.
It’s important to read through your personal statement as you could be asked to expand on it during the interview. Also be prepared to answer the obvious questions such as “Why do you want to become a teacher?” and “Why do you want to study at this university/school?”
Both an individual interview and a group interview could involve needing to give a short presentation to the group.
To give you a better idea of what to expect during your interview, here are some common interview questions for a teaching course.
Remember, if you’re taking a BA or BSc with QTA you’ll also be asked questions that relate to the subject you’re studying as well as teaching related questions.