Our remote interviews are undertaken using Microsoft Teams. It is your responsibility to ensure your webcam, microphone and connection are suitable & working, ahead of your interview. This can be used on a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone with a microphone and camera to ensure we can communicate effectively. Please note, access to a camera is a requirement of remote interviews so we can verify your identity.

Download Teams by clicking here.

Once you have downloaded Teams, do some test calls with friends/family to ensure it is working and also carry out a Teams test call to ensure everything works.

You will be sent an individual Microsoft Teams link 24-48 hours before your interview, which will take you directly to a virtual waiting lobby for your interview. Please check your emails and your junk/spam folder.

Some applicants have experienced difficulties accessing their interview using school or business accounts, which may be due to local organisation restrictions so we recommend you don't use these. You find a video tutorial and guides further down this webpage.

If you have a technical issue on the day of the interview itself, then please contact our interview team by emailing FAHE.Interviews@Canterbury.ac.uk who will be able to reschedule.

Ensure you have your photographic ID ready to check at the start of your individual interview. Acceptable forms of ID would be a passport, photo driving license, bus or train pass, citizen card, student card – something showing your full legal name alongside a clear photo of you. If you are unable to show your ID, then the interview may not be able to go ahead. Please contact us immediately if you know you will have an issue with presenting your ID on the date of your interview.

After the interview, you will be informed of our decision by the admissions team. This usually happens within 5-7 working days, so don’t worry if you don’t hear back immediately after the interview itself.

See the Interview Contacts section if you have any questions.

You can find out more about life at Canterbury Christ Church University by chatting to our current students about their experiences of studying and living here. Our friendly student ambassadors are available to chat to on our website now.

If you are applying for an undergraduate course and have an enquiry regarding your application or the admissions process please email admissions on ugadmissions@canterbury.ac.uk or call on +44 (0)1227 92 5555. Lines are open from 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm UK time (GMT).

Similarly, if you are applying for a postgraduate course and need to speak to somebody, please contact pgadmissions@canterbury.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1227 92 6699, 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm UK time (GMT).

If you have technical difficulties accessing your remote interview slot on the day of your interview and cannot enter the meeting on Microsoft Teams, please email fahe.interviews@canterbury.ac.uk and a member of the team will contact you and try to assist you in joining your remote interview.

Well done for being offered an interview for Primary Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. We look forward to seeing you and hope this guide will help you to get organised and prepared for the process.

Watch the course Welcome Talk prior to your interview. You can watch the BA Primary Education video here or the PGCE Primary Full-Time video here. These videos discuss key aspects of the courses, including information on assignments, placements, and wider opportunities available. 

Our interviews are online and conducted in two parts, both taking around 25-30 minutes each:

• A group activity – working with up to 5 other candidates.
• An interview – where you will be interviewed by a member of the academic staff and, where possible, a school-based partner.

A successful interview is based on good preparation. The more effort you put in to learning about the course, the role of a teacher and challenges facing education, the better. Being well informed about current issues demonstrates to us that you are not only passionate about the career but can talk confidently about wider issues too.

Please read the interview guidance for Primary to further help you prepare.

In the interview we’ll be talking to you about the experience you have had to date, particularly if you have worked with children or in a school environment. We’d like to know how this has developed your understanding of the role of a teacher. We may also ask you questions about learning, or children in general.

You can’t plan for every question! Our interview process is designed to be flexible and respond to what you say, not stick to a script. You can read further information in the interview guide about the following:

• STARR technique: how to structure an answer
• Issues in education: what to research ahead of the interview
• Technical aspects: ensure MS Teams is working prior to interview

Remember to also have your photo ID ready, find out more in the Get your photo ID ready section at the top of this webpage.

You will be sent a separate Microsoft Teams link for a specific time.

In your interview, we are looking for your potential to teach. We’re interested in what kind of teacher you will be after you have completed the course and we want to see that real passion for teaching and learning come across clearly.

The interview will last between 25 and 30 minutes. There will be time dedicated for you to ask questions at the end, but we encourage questions throughout – as our interviews are designed to be more like a professional discussion.

In the interview guide you can read more about what questions we may ask and what we're specifically looking to hear about.

You will be sent a Microsoft Teams link for this group activity.

You will be asked to engage online for 25-30 minutes, with up to 5 other candidates. In this group activity, we will give you a question or situation to respond to. You will be expected to consider this question and give a reasoned response, there is no preparation required ahead of the task.

During the group interview, we'll be looking for the following.

How you:

• interact with people
• express ideas, opinions and thoughts
• justify your ideas (how well you back them up)
• consider other people’s views.

Further information is available in the interview guide.

Well done for being offered an interview for Secondary Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. Please read carefully though the information on this webpage, the interview guide and the interview presentation in the downloads section. This will help you to know what to expect before, during and after your interview and can be well prepared and ready with any questions. 

During the interview process you will complete tasks that will test out different aptitudes and qualities that we believe are key to becoming a successful teacher. For full details of the requirements of the interview in your specialist subject, please ensure you read the appropriate briefing sheet in the Subject Briefing Documents section below and complete all required tasks in the Interview Preparation section below. 

The format of the interview is laid out below:

To fully prepare for your interview, we recommend that you complete the following tasks:

1. Read through the PGCE Secondary Remote Interview Guide (which can be downloaded from the 'Downloads' section of this page) and write down any questions you may have as a result of this to ask at your interview.
2. Please read through your subject briefing and audit sheet from the Subject Briefing Document section and complete your subject knowledge audit. Prepare any other interview questions or research your tutor requested in the briefing.
3. Read the lesson plan task proforma which you will receive from the Admissions team. Plan and record your lesson ideas in the space provided on the lesson task sheet. You should spend 30 to 40 minutes on this part of the task. You should then spend a further 5 to 10 minutes completing the reflection questions.
4. Please email your subject knowledge audit and your lesson plan proforma to the subject tutor.
5. Find a picture online that could be used to represent effective teaching and learning. Have this ready to share and talk about in the discussion activity.
6. Prepare for your Fundamental Skills Tasks, see page 5 of the interview guide for more information

Remember to also have your photo ID ready, find out more in the Get your photo ID ready section at the top of this webpage.

You can find interview briefings for each subject area linked below. These will download as Word documents. Subject contacts are also listed. 

Art and Design - Contact: emily.smith@canterbury.ac.uk

Computing - Contact: allan.callaghan@canterbury.ac.uk 

English - Contact: caroline.pestell@canterbury.ac.uk

Geography - Contact: lucie.towse@canterbury.ac.uk

History - Contact: mary.woolley@canterbury.ac.uk

Mathematics - Contact: charlotte.cooper@canterbury.ac.uk 

Modern Languages - Contact: nick.oakley@canterbury.ac.uk

Music - Contact: emily.sayers@canterbury.ac.uk

Physical Education - Contact: matthew.light@canterbury.ac.uk

Religious Education - Contact: katie.clemmey@canterbury.ac.uk

Science - Contact: nqobile.nkala@canterbury.ac.uk

In accordance with DfE guidelines we will need to assure that you have the necessary skills in maths and English to become a teacher by the end of your Initial Teacher Education course.  In line with the guidelines, it will be your responsibility to secure and demonstrate these fundamental skills. The process for being assured of your skills will begin at the interview stage and will continue throughout your course until its completion. 

In order to be recommended for QTS and become a teacher, by the end of your course you will be expected to be able to demonstrate competence in the following skills, fundamental to a teacher’s role: 

Teachers should use standard English grammar, clear pronunciation and vocabulary relevant to the situation to convey instructions, questions, information, concepts and ideas with clarity. Teachers should read fluently and with good understanding. 

Writing by teachers will be seen by colleagues, pupils and parents and, as such, it is important that a teacher’s writing reflects the high standards of accuracy their professional role demands. They should write clearly, accurately, legibly and coherently using correct spelling and punctuation. 

Teachers should use data and graphs to interpret information, identify patterns and trends and draw appropriate conclusions. They need to interpret pupil data and understand statistics and graphs in the news, academic reports and relevant papers. 

Teachers should be able to complete mathematical calculations fluently with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages. They should be able to solve mathematical problems using a variety of methods and approaches including estimating and rounding, sense checking answers, breaking down problems into simpler steps and explaining and justifying answers using appropriate language.

Thank you for your application to our iQTS programme. We are delighted that you have been selected for interview and the following information should help you to prepare successfully for this. The interview process is designed to test out different aptitudes and qualities that we believe are key to becoming a successful teacher. We do not expect that everyone will have developed all these attributes to a high level at this point in time; rather, we are looking for the ability, resourcefulness and reflective capacity for successful candidates to grow professionally over the course of your international teacher education course to develop these talents further as your career progresses.

The interview process will give you an opportunity to demonstrate the following: enthusiasm for your subject/phase, clarity of presentation, resilience, the capacity to respond reflectively to feedback, and a commitment to a child-centred education system. Please be aware that these will all form part of our assessment criteria of candidates. 

Please note that at the start of the interview you will be required to prove your identity, so you must ensure you have your photographic ID ready to check at the start of your individual interview. Acceptable forms of ID would be a passport, photo driving licence, bus or train pass, citizen card or student card – something showing your full legal name alongside a clear photo of you. If you are unable to show your ID, then the interview may not be able to go ahead. Please contact us immediately if you know you will have an issue with presenting your ID on the date of your interview.

As part of the recruitment and selection process, you will need to provide the details of two referees. Please note that we can only accept references that are sent from professional email addresses; references from gmail/Hotmail accounts etc. will automatically be rejected. One of these references must come from your current or most recent employer and be completed by a senior person with appropriate authority. These should include a reason for leaving employment, and if in schools or colleges, confirm your suitability to work with children and be confirmed by the headteacher as accurate in respect to any disciplinary investigations. It is not appropriate for family or close friends to provide a reference. We also cannot accept open references e.g. “to whom it may concern”. References should, wherever possible, be provided on official headed note paper.

For full details of the requirements of the interview, please ensure you download and carefully read the relevant briefing sheet in the appropriate Interview Briefing Documents. These can be found in the section below.

• Primary Education
• Secondary Education 

You can expect the interview to last around 40 minutes in total and it will be conducted by members of the tutor team from the university. If you already know your placement school, then it is likely that a colleague from that school will also be present. Please note that the whole interview will be undertaken online using Microsoft Teams and you will be able to access the remote interview via a link that you will be sent to you by email. Whilst Microsoft Teams can run in any web browser, you may prefer to install the free app to ensure full functionality. For the interview, it will be important that both your camera and microphone work effectively, so you should test these prior to the interview. It is also recommended that you ensure that you have a reliable internet connection and a quiet space where you know you will not be disturbed for the duration of the interview.

Please remember that the interview is the chance for you to shine! Nothing is intended to catch you out. Rather, it is the opportunity for you to demonstrate to us the extent to which you are ready to start the iQTS programme. Although it is deemed to be a formal interview, it is more likely to be conducted as a professional conversation, so please don’t feel overly nervous about it in advance of the day. Preparation will of course be helpful, so we suggest that you think carefully about your reasons for wanting to join this course and, if you have worked previously with children, to reflect on what you have learned from that experience.

In accordance with DfE guidelines we need to assure that all successful candidates have the necessary skills in numeracy and English literacy to gain the iQTS qualification at the end of the course.  In line with the guidelines, it will be your responsibility to secure and demonstrate these fundamental skills. The process for being assured of your skills will begin at the interview stage and will continue throughout your course until its completion. 

In order to be recommended for iQTS by the end of your course you will be expected to be able to demonstrate competence in the following skills, fundamental to a teacher’s role: 

Teachers should use standard English grammar, clear pronunciation and vocabulary relevant to the situation to convey instructions, questions, information, concepts and ideas with clarity. Teachers should read fluently and with good understanding. 

Writing by teachers will be seen by colleagues, pupils and parents and, as such, it is important that a teacher’s writing reflects the high standards of accuracy their professional role demands. They should write clearly, accurately, legibly and coherently using correct spelling and punctuation. 

Teachers should use data and graphs to interpret information, identify patterns and trends and draw appropriate conclusions. They need to interpret pupil data and understand statistics and graphs in the news, academic reports and relevant papers. 

Teachers should be able to complete mathematical calculations fluently with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages. They should be able to solve mathematical problems using a variety of methods and approaches including estimating and rounding, sense checking answers, breaking down problems into simpler steps and explaining and justifying answers using appropriate language.

In order to gain an initial indication of your skills in both literacy and numeracy, at the end of the interview you will be sent a link to a combined assessment in both skills. It is recommended that you complete both parts of the assessment within a week of the date of your interview. You should set aside one hour for the tasks and should ideally complete them in one sitting. Details of the two assessments are set out below:

TASK 1: Numeracy assessment

This task is designed to reflect some fundamental aspects of mathematics subject knowledge needed by all teachers. If you answer some of the questions incorrectly, you may still be accepted on the course but could be asked to work on certain aspects of your numeracy before the course begins. In this case you will be offered some guidance for your self-study. You can undertake some numeracy revision by downloading this document. 

TASK 2:  Literacy assessment

This task is designed to reflect the fundamental need for teachers to be able to interpret data and information and to be able to write clearly and accurately. As this is an international training course, we are very aware that English may not be your first language. Given that, if your interpretation and written response contains some mistakes and errors you may still be accepted on the course, but could be asked to engage with some further work with data (analysis and interpretation) and/or aspects of your written communication before the course begins. In this case you will be offered some guidance for your self-study both prior to and during the course.  In this task, we are looking at how you communicate your understanding of the data and information provided. Please write in full sentences, with care and attention paid to your spelling, punctuation and grammar.

You must make sure you have a PC or laptop connected to the internet with audio. The platform we use works better if you are using Chrome as a browser. Please click on the link below to access the remote classroom.

Make sure you join at least five minutes before the interview, and that you are in a room with a desk where you can concentrate. You should have paper and a pen beside you to make notes.

The process should take about 90 minutes in total, and will include:

• A check that you have the entry requirements for the course. This includes:
  • A Bachelor’s Degree (level 6)
  • English and maths GCSE (Level 2) or equivalent (if you do not have these you will need to take an equivalency test and pass before the course begins)
  • A level 3 (A level) in the subject you want to teach if it is not your degree subject
  • Ability to show appropriate ICT skills (level 1 or above)

• Introductions and explanation of how the remote interview process will be conducted
• A 20 minute overview of the course and what will be required of you. This will be followed by an opportunity for you to ask any questions regarding the course.
• A reading comprehension and written task relating to a key issue in current Post-Compulsory Education and Training (details only provided on the day). This will be done live at the remote interview.
• An interview with one of the CCCU FES team. You will be required to explore and discuss issues relating to the Further Education and Skills (FES) sector; your experience (if any), and possible skills as a teacher and your ability to support students.
• The process will end with an explanation of what will happen next and what you will need to do if accepted onto the course.

Please click on this link to enter the interview classroom.

Your interview will last about 20-30 minutes and will be conducted by the Programme Director. Ahead of your interview you will need to prepare the following:

• Performers: submit a video / audio recording of around 20 minutes
• Composers: submit an audio / score-based portfolio of around 20 minutes
• Researchers: submit one example of previous academic writing

You will need to send these through to FAHE.interviews@canterbury.ac.uk at least two days before your interview, to ensure this is passed onto the Programme Director.

You can join a Teams interview anytime, from any desktop, laptop or tablet device, whether or not you have a Teams account. If you don't have an account, follow these steps to join as a guest.

1. Go to the interview invite and select Join Microsoft Teams Meeting.
2. This will open a web page, where you'll see two choices: Download the Windows app and Join on the web instead. If you join on the web, you can use either Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome. Your browser may ask if it's okay for Teams to use your microphone and camera. Be sure to allow it so you'll be seen and heard in your interview.
3. Enter your name and choose your audio and video settings.
4. When you're ready, click Join Now. 
5. This will bring you into the interview waiting lobby. This will notify the interviewing academics that you're there, and someone in the interview can then admit you. Note: If you are not admitted within 15 minutes you will automatically be put back in the lobby, but you can retry entering the meeting from there. 

Even if you don't have a Teams account, you can still join a Teams interview on the mobile app. Here's how:

1. In the interview invite, select Join Microsoft Teams Meeting.
2. If you don't already have the Teams mobile app, you'll be taken to your app store (Apple App Store or Google Play) to download it. It is free to download and use. 
3. Download the app and open it right from the app store page. This download needs to be completed at least one hour prior to your interview to ensure your prompt access to the interview, as this download can take time. 
4. Teams will ask if it's okay to use your microphone and video. Be sure to allow it so others in the interview will be able to hear and see you.  
5. Next, you'll be given two options for joining your interview: Join as a guest or Sign in and join. Choose Join as a guest.
6. Type your name and click Join meeting.
7. This will bring you into the interview waiting lobby. This will notify the interviewing academics that you're there, and someone in the interview can then admit you. Note, if you're not admitted within 15 minutes you will automatically be returned to the lobby, but you can try and reenter the interview from there.
8. Once you're in the interview, you can turn your video or microphone on or off by tapping on the centre of your screen to show the meeting controls. Tap again to hide them.