Our courses fall in line with the Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance and criteria.  This means that applicants will be required to comply with specific entry criteria as well as taking part in a selection process which has been designed to assess their suitability to train to teach.

Interviews for the Undergraduate BA Honours route and the Foundation Year Route follow the same format as the PGCE route, but the activity prompts are different to reflect the different levels of study.

The Interview Process

If you are invited to attend an interview for a teacher training course, your interviewers will be looking for you to demonstrate qualities expected of an applicant with the potential to train to teach, including:

• Your understanding of the role of a teacher and some of the potential challenges.
• An ability to communicate effectively.
• A commitment to ensuring that children achieve their full potential.

Birmingham Newman University uses a number of methods to assess these qualities in students being interviewed. These include:

• A short writing task.
• A group discussion based on a video of some teaching.
• A reading activity.
• Formal interview including professional discussion

There is no need to prepare anything prior to the interview as all activities and materials are provided on the day.

Interviews for the Undergraduate BA Honours route and the Foundation Year Route follow the same format as the PGCE but the questions activity prompts are different to reflect the different levels of study.

 

Writing Task

The writing task is designed to give you the opportunity to consider the role of a teacher and to ensure that your standard writing is at a level that demonstrates that you are ready to be trained as a teacher.

Group Discussion

As part of the interview, you will be played a short video of some teaching and you will be given some prompts to help you think about what you are watching. You will then take part in a group discussion based on your observations of the teaching seen in the video.

Reading Activity

A book is provided for you along with some prompts to help you consider how the book might be used when teaching children. You will have time to make notes based on the prompts and you will then be asked to read a small portion of the book in the interview and discuss your responses to the prompts given.

Formal Interview

The final part of the process is a formal interview of approximately 15 minutes during which your reading task will be assessed alongside other questions related to your motivation to becoming a teacher and there is an opportunity for you to discuss any broader experiences that might relate to teaching that you may have. There is also an opportunity for you to ask any questions related to the teaching, the programmes or the university.

 

Entry Requirements

We would like to remind applicants of what is expected of them in order to receive an offer and start our course. If you are unsure on the qualifications we accept, please visit our equivalencies page. 

English GCSE grade 4 or equivalent	Enhanced DBS Clearance
Maths GCSE grade 4 or equivalent	Fitness to Train to Teach
Science GCSE grade 4 or equivalent	Final ID check – enrolment
UCAS Tariff or equivalent entry requirement (BA Routes only)	First Degree (PGCE routes only)
All original documents need to be seen and approved by admissions before enrolment	Willingness to travel (agreed at interview)