Primary Education Interviews

Once you have applied for one of our Primary Education courses* and if you have been shortlisted, you will be invited for an interview. 

Interviews will be online for those wishing to start in September 2023.

What should you expect?  

• The interview will last around 30 minutes with a member of the academic teaching staff from the Primary Education team. 
• For BA (Hons) and PGCE courses, your interview link will be sent on the day of your interview so you know the exact time of your interview, which will be sometime between 1-4pm.
• School Direct interviews will be time-specific according to your invite.
• As part of the interview process, we ask you to prepare for some of the questions you will be asked. These four prepared tasks support our vision for all of our trainee teachers to be informed, be inspiring and be influential: 

Children’s book - Choose a children’s book that would be suitable for either Key Stage 1 or 2 children and think about how you could use this book to engage them. Ensure you have a copy of this as you will be asked to read a short section of this book and you will be asked to discuss how you could use this in lessons to support learning. Local libraries have online versions of books and so you do not need to buy the book if you don’t have it.  

Behaviour - Read the guidance, ‘The trainee teacher behavioural toolkit’. There will be questions asked about this article to assess your comprehension of what is included in the guidance. For this task, we will allow you to make brief notes. 

Fundamental British Values - Teachers are expected to demonstrate consistently high standards of personal and professional conduct. This includes not undermining fundamental British Values. As part of this question, you will be asked to discuss these values in detail and how they can be promoted. 

Safeguarding - Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility.  It is essential that everybody working in a school understands their safeguarding responsibilities; this includes being aware of how you should respond if a child tells you they are being abused, exploited or neglected. You will be asked to discuss this.  

Inadequate preparation for these interview tasks will result in an unsatisfactory interview. 

• Our rigorous selection process is designed to assess your suitability to train to teach.  
• If you have applied for a postgraduate School Direct course you may be required to have a school visit, in addition to an interview, requested directly from the School Direct Alliance you have applied for - you will be informed of this via e-mail. 
• You will not be asked to present certificates at your interview. Admissions will ask you for the sight of original copies after the interview if you are offered a place.

• Do you know enough about the course you have applied for? Research information about the course, and the Primary curriculum and visit our open days or postgraduate open evenings where you can come and speak to our staff and students www.wlv.ac.uk/opendays.
• Ensure you have read all the guidance that has been sent to you so you can demonstrate you have prepared for your interview. Check if you have been requested to bring any additional information with you (ID etc.).

Online Interviews

• Have you downloaded Microsoft Teams ready onto your device? Read our full guidance on ensuring you are set up and ready for your online interview.
• You’ll be sent a link to your interview before 1 pm on the day so you know what exact time your interview will be on Microsoft Teams via email. In this email, there should be a 'Join meeting' link. Just before your interview time, press 'Join meeting'. 
• Please ensure you have your photographic ID ready, a fully charged device and you have your e-mail account open on this device no later than 10 minutes before your interview time.
• Ensure you are away from any loud noise or distractions which could interfere with your interview.
• Click the ‘Join meeting’ link 5-10 minutes before your interview time.  

GOOD LUCK!

*Primary Education courses include BA (Hons) Primary Education, PGCE Primary Education, PGCE Primary with Mathematics, School Direct Tuition, and School Direct Salaried routes.