BA Primary Education (QTS)

How should I prepare for my interview?

Before your interview, we strongly advise that you familiarise yourself with the following:

• the programme for which you have applied
• the current issues facing teaching, particularly in the subject area for which you have applied (for example, browse Tes, The Guardian's education section or BBC's Family and Education pages)
• the Core Content Framework (CCF)
• the Teachers' Standards (TS)
• the Primary National Curriculum in England.
• the Institute of Education's interview top tips.

Do I need to provide any documents at my interview?

Yes - please check the full list of documents you will need to bring to the interview.

What will happen on the day of my interview?

The interview day will start at 09:00 and will finish by 16:30 at the latest. The interview day will take place on the London Road campus at the University of Reading. A member of staff from the Institute of Education will contact you via email, closer to the date of your interview, to provide you with details on where you will need to report to at the start of the day.

During the interview day, you will:

• have the opportunity to explore the campus, meet staff and ask questions
• take part in two group tasks
• complete a written task
• take part in an interview where you will be asked questions about your motivation for taking the course and reasons for wanting to pursue a career in teaching.

Task 1 - Children’s book group activity

For the children’s book group activity, you will be required to:

• prepare a teaching activity related to a children’s book (the children’s book will be provided on the day of your interview)
• read a short extract from the book aloud
• discuss the value of reading
• discuss how you might use the children’s book and teaching activity to develop cross-curricular learning
• demonstrate that you have thought about the planning and the way that the activity will support learning
• relate the activity to the Core Content Framework (CCF), the Teachers' Standards, and the Primary National Curriculum in England.

Further instructions for the children’s book group activity will be provided on the day of your interview.

 

Task 2 - Reading Partnership Teacher (RPT) attributes group activity

Please familiarise yourself with the following Reading Partnership Teacher (RPT) attributes before your interview: 

• Compassionate Professionals
• Creative Critical Thinkers
• Ethical Community Participants
• Evidence-informed Teachers
• Pedagogically-skilled Practitioners. 

 

Please be prepared to discuss the following questions on the day of your interview:

• Why do you think we have identified the Reading Partnership Teacher (RPT) attributes?
• Which attribute(s) do you consider to be the most important and why?

 

Task 3 - Written task

The title for your written task will be provided on the day of your interview. Please let us know if any adjustments are needed for you to access this task.

Interview

Your interview will focus on the following key areas:

• knowledge and understanding of educational issues, including the Primary National Curriculum in England
• appropriate interest, knowledge, understanding, and skills in your specialist subject
• relevant experience with children and any further plans for developing this
• a developing understanding of the qualities required to make a good teacher
• evidence of and ability to present material to an audience in a way which engages their interest
• evidence of ability to participate in a discussion
• potential to reach the Standards for Qualified Teacher Status. We would advise you to read the Teachers' Standards to familiarise yourself with them prior to the interview.

Who will interview me?

Your interview will be conducted by one of the programme tutors from the Institute of Education who will be present in person. There will also be a second interviewer present, either in person or online, during your interview. The second interviewer may be a colleague from one of our partner schools. Please note that we will share relevant background information from your application form with our partner school colleague, but this will not include any sensitive data that you provided as part of your application. If you have any queries or concerns in relation to this, please contact admissionssupport@reading.ac.uk.

Questions?

We are looking forward to meeting you at your interview. In the meantime, if you have any questions or if you require any assistance in relation to your interview, please contact admissionssupport@reading.ac.uk.