BA Primary Education (QTS)

How should I prepare for my online 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.

Additionally, before your interview, you will need to:

• prepare a teaching activity related to the course for which you have applied
• familiarise yourself with the Reading Partnership Teacher (RPT) attributes and be prepared to answer questions about them
• complete and return a written task.

Do I need to provide any documents at my online interview?

The only document that you will need to provide at your interview is a piece of photographic ID (your passport, driving licence photocard or ID card) so your identity can be verified. You will need to hold this up to the camera, so please have this to hand at the start of your interview.

Task 1: Prepare a teaching activity related to the course for which you have applied (10 minutes)

 

If you have applied for the BA Primary Education General Pathway course, the BA Primary Education with Art course, the BA Primary Education with English course, or the BA Primary Education with Mathematics course, you will need to choose a children’s book and prepare a teaching activity to share with your interviewers.

If you have applied for the BA Primary Education General Pathway course, you will need to choose a children’s book which is related to any subject taught within the Primary National Curriculum in England.

If you have applied for the BA Primary Education with Art course, the BA Primary Education with English course, or the BA Primary Education with Mathematics course, you will need to choose a children’s book which is related to your subject specialism (Art, English, or Mathematics).

For the teaching activity, you will need to:

• read a short extract from the book aloud
• identify the age range for the activity
• relate the teaching activity to your subject specialism (or a subject of your choice that is taught within the Primary National Curriculum in England, if you have applied for the BA Primary Education General Pathway course)
• be prepared to discuss the value of reading
• be prepared to discuss how you might use the book and 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.

You can refer to your notes during this activity.

If you have applied for the BA Primary Education with Music course, you will need to prepare a verbal presentation explaining how you would teach a music lesson to primary-aged children.

For the teaching activity, you will need to:

• plan a short lesson or watch someone else teach the lesson
• be prepared to discuss how you might use music to develop cross-curricular learning
• demonstrate that you have thought about the way that the activity, either planned or observed, will support learning
• relate the activity to the Core Content Framework (CCF), the Teachers' Standards, and the Primary National Curriculum in England.

You can refer to your notes during this activity.

 

Task 2: Reading Partnership Teacher (RPT) attributes 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

Approximately two or three working days prior to your interview, you will be sent a Microsoft Teams meeting invitation and an email containing the written task and relevant instructions. Please complete and return the written task via email before 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?

You will be interviewed by one of the programme tutors from the Institute of Education and another interviewer. 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.