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Role guide

Teacher interview preparation

Updated 15 September 2026

The interview process for primary or secondary teacher training courses varies by provider. Teacher-training candidates are likely to discuss why they want to teach, what they could bring to the profession, how their interests could work in the classroom and the challenges teachers face. This guide sets out provider-specific examples and practical preparation steps without treating one route as universal.

01

Interview process examples

For primary or secondary teacher training courses, the exact interview process depends on the training provider. Check your invitation carefully because the stages below include provider-specific and route-specific examples.

  1. Confirming attendance

    Attendance confirmation

    After receiving an interview invitation

    Depends on the employer

    Applicants invited to the University of Portsmouth teacher-training interview are asked to confirm that they can attend the interview day.

    What they assess

    • No assessment criteria are specified in the supplied evidence.

    How to prepare

    • Reply by the deadline stated in your invitation.
    • Check the arrangements and ask the named contact about anything unclear.

  2. Interview-day assessment

    Interview-day assessment

    Depends on the employer

    For University of Portsmouth teacher-training interview applicants, the provider discusses the application form and academic reference as part of its interview-day assessment.

    What they assess

    • Personal qualities
    • Intellectual qualities
    • Capability to meet the Teachers' Standards by the end of training

    How to prepare

    • Reread your application form and academic reference.
    • Choose truthful examples that demonstrate the personal and intellectual qualities you would bring to training.
    • Prepare to discuss how you could develop towards the Teachers' Standards by the end of training.

  3. Individual teacher-training interview

    Individual interview

    Depends on the employer

    For University of Portsmouth teacher-training interview applicants, individual interviews normally take place with the course leader and a school-based mentor.

    What they assess

    • No assessment criteria are specified specifically for the individual interview in the supplied evidence.

    How to prepare

    • Review the course information and your reasons for applying.
    • Choose concise, truthful examples from your experience.
    • Prepare questions about the training route and placements.

  4. Possible teacher-training presentation

    Presentation

    Common

    Most teacher-training providers ask teacher-training interview applicants to give some type of presentation, although the exact process varies by provider.

    What they assess

    • No assessment criteria are specified in the supplied evidence.

    How to prepare

    • Check whether your invitation includes a presentation brief.
    • If it does, follow the brief closely and practise aloud within any stated limit.
    • Give the presentation a clear opening, a focused main section and a concise close.

  5. Possible pre-interview maths or English test

    Maths or English test

    In advance of the interview

    Possible

    Some teacher-training providers may require teacher-training interview applicants to complete a maths or English test before the interview.

    What they assess

    • No assessment criteria are specified in the supplied evidence.

    How to prepare

    • Check your invitation for the subject, format and completion instructions.
    • Ask the named contact if the arrangements are unclear.

Maths applicants to the University of Portsmouth teacher-training course

These applicants are required to complete an additional subject-specific test.

Sciences applicants to the University of Portsmouth teacher-training course

These applicants are required to complete an additional subject-specific test.

Modern Foreign Languages applicants to the University of Portsmouth teacher-training course

These applicants are required to complete an additional subject-specific test.

Further-education teaching interview candidates

Further-education teaching interviews often include a micro-teach, which is a short lesson delivered to the panel.

02

Your preparation plan

Build evidence around the work

Choose truthful examples that show how you have planned learning, adapted teaching to pupils' needs, used assessment and managed behaviour safely. Teachers working with pupils aged 3 to 19 plan and deliver a curriculum that supports progress, set challenging expectations, manage behaviour, use assessment and adapt their teaching.

If you are preparing for a teacher-training interview, be ready to discuss why you want to teach, what you could bring to the profession, how your interests could be used in the classroom and the challenges teachers face. Teaching-job interview candidates without safeguarding experience should prepare to explain what they would do in a safeguarding scenario.

Keep each example compact: give the context, explain what you did, describe the result and say what you learnt. Read every instruction from the provider or employer because presentations, tests and other arrangements may differ.

The week before

  • Review the job description or course information and note the competencies it asks for.
  • Select truthful examples of planning learning, adapting teaching, using assessment and managing behaviour safely.
  • If you are a teacher-training candidate, prepare concise points on your motivation, contribution to teaching, classroom interests and challenges faced by teachers.
  • If you are a teaching-job candidate without safeguarding experience, practise a truthful explanation of what you would do in a safeguarding scenario.
  • If your further-education teaching interview includes a micro-teach, rehearse the short lesson for a panel.

The day before

  • Reread your application and every interview, presentation or test instruction.
  • Confirm the location, travel plan and arrival arrangements. If your interview is remote, test your camera, microphone and connection.
  • Prepare permitted notes and two or three questions about the role, training or working environment.

On the day

  • Bring or open the documents requested in the invitation and arrive or join with time to settle.
  • Listen to each question, pause briefly and use one relevant example rather than several thin ones.
03

What interviewers look for

Curriculum planning and pupil progress

Teachers teaching pupils aged 3 to 19 plan and deliver a high-quality curriculum that promotes pupils' progress and outcomes.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose a lesson sequence that built on pupils' prior knowledge.
  • Note how you checked progress and changed later teaching.

Behaviour management and high expectations

Teachers teaching pupils aged 3 to 19 set high expectations and manage behaviour effectively to maintain a safe learning environment.

Evidence to prepare

  • Recall a time you established clear expectations with a class.
  • Identify what you did, how pupils responded and what you learnt.

Adaptive teaching

Under the Teacher apprenticeship standard in England, teachers know when and how to differentiate and use approaches suited to pupils with different needs.

Evidence to prepare

  • Select an example in which pupils needed different routes into the same learning.
  • Explain how you judged whether each adaptation worked.

Assessment and feedback

Under the Teacher apprenticeship standard in England, teachers use assessment, relevant data and feedback to monitor and support pupils' progress.

Evidence to prepare

  • Choose an example where assessment exposed a misconception or gap.
  • Note what evidence you gathered and how it changed your next lesson.

Safeguarding judgement

Safeguarding is part of the responsibility held by teachers responsible for pupils in their care in England.

Evidence to prepare

  • Prepare a truthful example involving a concern without disclosing identifying details.
  • If you are preparing for safeguarding questions in a teaching interview, review the safeguarding policy for the school where you are interviewing.

Subject knowledge and professional development

Teachers teaching pupils aged 3 to 19 have strong subject knowledge and keep their practice up to date through regular professional development.

Evidence to prepare

  • Identify a topic you can explain accurately in more than one way.
  • Choose an example of feedback, study or training that changed your teaching.
04

Questions you should be ready for

Use the answer plans as prompts, not scripts. Your examples should sound like you.

Teaching approach and motivation

Teacher interviews commonly explore teaching philosophy and motivation for working at the school.

What does effective teaching look like to you?

What they want to learn: To understand the principles behind your teaching and whether you can connect them to pupil learning.

Answer plan

  • State your main principles in plain language.
  • Use one truthful classroom example.
  • Explain what pupils learnt or did differently.
  • Say what you would refine next time.

Evidence to use: Choose an example that shows your beliefs in practice.

Avoid

  • Giving an abstract philosophy without classroom evidence.
  • Describing activities without explaining pupil learning.
Why do you want to work at this school?

What they want to learn: To test whether your motivation is specific to the school and post.

Answer plan

  • Identify relevant details from the job description and information supplied by the school.
  • Connect them to your experience and teaching priorities.
  • Explain what you could contribute.
  • Keep every claim about the school factual.

Evidence to use: Find two features of the post that genuinely connect with your experience or goals.

Avoid

  • Giving an answer that could apply to any school.
  • Repeating the school's wording without explaining your fit.
How do you plan a sequence of lessons that builds on pupils' prior knowledge?

What they want to learn: To examine how you turn curriculum aims and knowledge of pupils into coherent teaching.

Answer plan

  • Define the intended learning.
  • Explain how you established what pupils already knew.
  • Describe how the lessons built towards the goal.
  • Show how checks for understanding affected later planning.

Evidence to use: Use a sequence that you changed after learning more about the pupils.

Avoid

  • Listing activities without a learning sequence.
  • Assuming prior knowledge rather than checking it.

Behaviour and classroom climate

Behaviour management is a common theme in teacher interviews.

How do you establish high expectations with a new class?

What they want to learn: To understand how you create a safe learning environment and make expectations clear.

Answer plan

  • Explain how you introduce expectations and routines.
  • Describe how you model the behaviour you expect.
  • Give an example of a consistent response when expectations were not met.
  • Explain how you checked whether the approach worked.

Evidence to use: Choose a class or group where clear expectations improved access to learning.

Avoid

  • Relying on authority alone.
  • Discussing consequences without explaining how expectations were established.
Tell us about a difficult behaviour situation and how you handled it.

What they want to learn: To assess your judgement, composure and ability to protect learning.

Answer plan

  • Give brief context without identifying the pupil.
  • Describe the behaviour and its effect on learning.
  • Explain your response and any later follow-up.
  • State the outcome and what you learnt.

Evidence to use: Pick an example where your response was proportionate and you can discuss its effect honestly.

Avoid

  • Blaming or labelling the pupil.
  • Claiming the issue disappeared instantly.
  • Ignoring the effect on the rest of the class.
What would you do if your usual behaviour strategy was not working?

What they want to learn: To see whether you can examine the situation and adapt your response.

Answer plan

  • Describe the evidence you would review.
  • Consider the pupil's needs and the classroom context.
  • Explain a measured adjustment.
  • Say how you would judge whether it helped.

Evidence to use: Recall a time when you changed an approach because the first response was ineffective.

Avoid

  • Jumping straight to a harsher response.
  • Offering one fixed solution without considering context.

Adaptive teaching and inclusion

Teacher interviews commonly cover differentiation for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

How do you adapt teaching for pupils with special educational needs or disabilities?

What they want to learn: To assess whether you can respond to individual needs while keeping the learning purposeful.

Answer plan

  • Start with the intended learning.
  • Explain how you identified a barrier.
  • Describe a specific adaptation.
  • Show how you checked its effect.

Evidence to use: Choose one pupil or group, remove identifying details and focus on the barrier, adaptation and result.

Avoid

  • Assuming every pupil with a similar need requires the same approach.
  • Describing support without checking whether it helped.
Describe a lesson you changed because pupils had different starting points.

What they want to learn: To understand how you use pupils' capabilities and prior knowledge when planning.

Answer plan

  • Explain the different starting points you identified.
  • State the shared learning goal.
  • Describe how you adjusted the teaching.
  • Give evidence of how pupils responded.

Evidence to use: Select an example with a clear initial check and a visible change to your plan.

Avoid

  • Equating adaptation with giving some pupils more work.
  • Leaving the reason for the change unexplained.
How would you challenge pupils who grasp the material quickly?

What they want to learn: To test whether you can respond to high ability with purposeful challenge.

Answer plan

  • Clarify the learning you want to deepen.
  • Describe an approach that increases depth rather than workload.
  • Explain how you would check the pupil's reasoning.
  • Keep the challenge connected to the lesson goal.

Evidence to use: Use an example where greater challenge led to deeper explanation, application or reasoning.

Avoid

  • Offering only more questions at the same level.
  • Using speed as the sole sign of understanding.

Assessment and progress

Assessment for learning is a common teacher interview theme.

How do you use assessment during a lesson?

What they want to learn: To understand how you check learning and make teaching decisions.

Answer plan

  • Name the learning you needed to check.
  • Describe the assessment method and why you chose it.
  • Explain how you interpreted pupil responses.
  • Show how the result changed what you did next.

Evidence to use: Choose an occasion when a check caused you to reteach, regroup or move on.

Avoid

  • Listing techniques without explaining the decisions they informed.
  • Treating task completion as proof of learning.
Tell us about a time assessment revealed a misconception.

What they want to learn: To assess whether you can identify a learning gap and respond effectively.

Answer plan

  • State the intended learning and the misconception.
  • Explain how the evidence exposed it.
  • Describe your response.
  • Give subsequent evidence of learning.

Evidence to use: Pick a misconception you can explain precisely, including how your teaching changed.

Avoid

  • Presenting the initial error as pupil failure.
  • Omitting evidence about the effect of your response.
How do you give feedback that helps pupils improve?

What they want to learn: To explore how you make feedback usable and connect it to progress.

Answer plan

  • Explain what the feedback focused on.
  • Describe how you made the next step clear.
  • Show how pupils acted on it.
  • Explain how you checked for improvement.

Evidence to use: Use an example of oral or written feedback that led to a specific revision.

Avoid

  • Focusing on the amount of marking rather than its effect.
  • Giving praise without a useful next step.

Safeguarding

Teacher interviews almost always include at least one safeguarding question, and teaching interviews may ask how a candidate handled a safeguarding issue in school.

What would you do if a pupil disclosed a safeguarding concern to you?

What they want to learn: To assess how you would respond to a concern under the school's safeguarding policy.

Answer plan

  • Explain how you would keep your response focused on the pupil's immediate welfare.
  • Describe how you would use the school's safeguarding policy to decide the next action.
  • Explain how you would follow the reporting route set by the school.
  • Identify any part of the procedure you would confirm rather than guess.

Evidence to use: Read the safeguarding policy for the school where you are interviewing and prepare to apply it to a hypothetical disclosure.

Avoid

  • Guessing the school's procedure.
  • Inventing experience you do not have.
  • Giving an answer that ignores the relevant policy.
Tell us about a safeguarding issue you dealt with in school.

What they want to learn: To understand how you exercised judgement when responding to a safeguarding concern.

Answer plan

  • Remove identifying details.
  • Explain what you observed or were told.
  • Describe what you did and the procedure you followed.
  • Reflect on what you learnt.

Evidence to use: Choose a genuine example you can discuss safely; if you do not have one, say so rather than inventing experience.

Avoid

  • Sharing identifying or unnecessary details.
  • Inventing direct experience.
  • Giving no account of the procedure followed.
How have you prepared for safeguarding questions at this interview?

What they want to learn: To check whether you have read the relevant policy and can apply it to a practical situation.

Answer plan

  • Name the policy you reviewed.
  • Explain which parts are relevant to a likely scenario.
  • Connect your preparation to Keeping Children Safe in Education where the role is in England.
  • State what you would confirm with the school if its procedure were unclear.

Evidence to use: Read the safeguarding policy for the school where you are interviewing and note the route it sets out.

Avoid

  • Claiming knowledge of a policy you have not read.
  • Reciting guidance without applying it to a situation.

Subject knowledge and professional growth

Teachers teaching pupils aged 3 to 19 have strong subject knowledge and keep their practice up to date through regular professional development.

How do you keep your subject and curriculum knowledge up to date?

What they want to learn: To understand how you identify gaps, learn and apply new knowledge in teaching.

Answer plan

  • Name a specific area you developed.
  • Explain what prompted the development.
  • Describe the learning you undertook.
  • Show how it changed your teaching.

Evidence to use: Choose recent development with a clear classroom consequence.

Avoid

  • Listing courses without explaining their effect.
  • Claiming there are no gaps in your knowledge.
Explain a difficult concept from your subject in a way pupils could understand.

What they want to learn: To test the accuracy, clarity and flexibility of your subject explanation.

Answer plan

  • Define the concept accurately.
  • Choose language suited to the pupils' stage.
  • Use an example, representation or analogy.
  • Include a check that could expose misunderstanding.

Evidence to use: Select a concept you have taught and recall where pupils became stuck.

Avoid

  • Using unexplained specialist language.
  • Choosing an analogy that introduces a misconception.
  • Failing to check understanding.
Tell us about feedback that changed your teaching practice.

What they want to learn: To assess self-awareness, openness to development and the ability to turn feedback into action.

Answer plan

  • Set out the feedback and its context.
  • Explain how you evaluated it.
  • Describe the change you made.
  • Give evidence of its effect and any later refinement.

Evidence to use: Choose feedback that led to a visible change rather than a general promise to improve.

Avoid

  • Presenting a disguised strength as a weakness.
  • Becoming defensive about the feedback.
  • Leaving out what changed.
05

Questions to ask them

“How does the school support teachers in adapting lessons for pupils with different needs?”

The answer can help you understand the support available for adaptive teaching.

“How do teachers here use assessment and feedback to monitor pupils' progress?”

This can help you understand the school's approach to assessment, data and feedback.

“What safeguarding induction and ongoing guidance do new teachers receive?”

Teachers in England must follow Keeping Children Safe in Education, so the answer can show how the school helps staff apply its procedures.

“What opportunities are there to develop subject and curriculum knowledge?”

The answer can show how the school supports teachers as they develop their subject and curriculum knowledge.

“How does the school help teachers build effective relationships with parents, carers and colleagues?”

This can reveal how the school supports communication and teamwork with the people involved in pupils' education.

“What would you want the successful candidate to achieve during their first term?”

This clarifies the employer's immediate expectations for the post.

06

On the day

In person

  • Bring any documents or permitted notes requested in the invitation and organise them so they are easy to find.
  • Arrive with enough time to settle, find where you need to report and review whom you are meeting.
  • Listen to the whole question before answering. Ask for clarification if a scenario is unclear.
  • Use one truthful example at a time, explaining what you did, why you chose that approach and what happened.

Remote

  • If your interview is remote, test your camera, microphone, connection and meeting link beforehand.
  • Keep the invitation, job description and permitted notes within reach, but do not read prepared answers word for word.
  • Choose a quiet, well-lit space and close unrelated applications and notifications.
  • If the connection fails, use the contact details in the invitation and briefly explain what happened.
07

Preparation pitfalls

For teacher training applications, a reference that is too short can leave the provider chasing further information.

Check the provider's reference instructions and contact your referee early enough to address any gaps.

For teacher training applications, supplying the wrong type of reference can lead to follow-up from the provider.

Confirm whom the provider accepts as a referee before entering their details.

For teacher training applications, giving a referee's personal email address instead of a professional one can lead to follow-up from the provider.

Check the provider's instructions and use a professional email address when one is requested.

Giving several vague examples instead of one clear, relevant example.

Choose one truthful situation, explain what you did and describe what happened.

Preparing a generic answer without checking the course or job information.

Review the supplied information and connect your experience to the specific post or training route.

Teaching-job interview candidates without safeguarding experience may struggle to provide a previous example.

Prepare a truthful explanation of what you would do in a safeguarding scenario. Do not invent experience.

08

After the interview

Send a brief thank-you message after the interview. Mention the role, one specific point from the conversation and any factual information the panel asked you to provide.

While the discussion is fresh, note the questions you found difficult and refine the examples you would use next time. If the employer gave a decision date, wait until it has passed before asking politely for an update.

If an offer arrives

  • Check the role, working arrangements and start date against what was discussed at interview.
  • Qualified teacher status (QTS) is a legal requirement for teaching in maintained schools in England.
  • Read the written terms carefully and ask the named contact about anything that does not match your understanding.
09

Frequently asked questions

From guide to application

Make your CV and your answers tell the same story.

Use cvlift to tailor your CV to the role and bring the most relevant experience forward. Then use this guide to practise the examples behind it.

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