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Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship (Secondary)

Please read through all the sections to check you have completed all the necessary tasks before your interview.

If you have not completed all the relevant tasks the interview may be terminated and you will be asked to re-book. 

Online Interviews

If you have booked an online interview you will be sent a link to join your interview on Zoom by your interviewer. In some cases, this may not be until the morning of the interview. Please check your email spam and trash/junk folders before contacting us.

If you have not received the Zoom link by the day of your interview, please contact the tutor who has confirmed the interview with you.

Lead Partner School Alliances

If you are applying to St Mary's via one of our Lead Partner alliances, please could you make sure that you notify your alliance of the date and time of your interview once you have booked it.

If you have completed your qualifications we will need to verify these before any offer can be made following a successful interview outcome.

Please log on to your applicant portal and select the ‘My application’ tab.

If we need documents from you then there will be a button which is labelled ‘Documents – action required’ – please select this button.

There will be a list of documents that we need. If the status is ‘accepted’ it means we have already verified the qualification. If the status is ‘required’ it means we need you to upload the relevant document. You can do this by selecting the button labelled ‘upload’.

Please ensure you: 

  • rename the document so that it explains what it is; for example, if the document is a copy of your UK passport please ensure the filename is ‘UK passport’
  • only upload one copy of each document.

Please note: If the document you need to upload is made up of multiple pages please send this to the admissions team using WeTransfer instead. Please ensure you quote your student ID. The team will be able to combine your pages into one document which will make it easier for us to review.

If you are still studying towards your bachelor degree then you won't need to upload this now but it will be required once you have graduated and before you can start the course.

At St Mary’s, we want you to be successful at interview. We are not trying to catch anyone out so we supply you with information to help you prepare for the interview and your career choice.

Before coming for interview, please make sure you have:

  • Completed and submitted the Subject Knowledge Audit (please see section 'subject knowledge audits')
  • Watched the pre-interview videos (please see section 'pre-interview videos')
  •  website to find out how to organise school experience.
  • Reflected on why you want to become a teacher
  • Given thought to your approach to a variety of subject based questions as your subject knowledge will be assessed as part of the interview process.
  • Prepared your three minute presentation (no digital support)(see below for more details)
  • Read the UK Government’s Teachers’ Standards
  • Read the subject requirements of the English National Curriculum for your subject, perhaps look though the examination syllabus too
  • Complete our Secondary Pre-Interview Form

3 minute presentation

Please prepare a short, three minute, talk/presentation (with no electronic/digital support) that highlights the qualities of an effective teacher. Your presentation should:

  • draw upon recent experience of being in a school, and/or working with young people;
  • explore the pastoral role of a teacher; and
  • highlight the importance of subject knowledge.

Your presentation should indicate you are making an informed decision about training to be a teacher. Your presentation should not be read from a script, but we understand that cue cards may reassure you during your presentation. This is the only aspect of the interview process where you can display clear evidence of preparation. You will be assessed for your communication skills in spoken English, your ability to engage an audience, your understanding of your chosen subject and evidence of preparation.

If you are attending an in-person interview on campus you may wish to bring with you a physical prop which will make your presentation more engaging.

A subject knowledge audit is a starting point for subject knowledge (SK) development. Answer honestly; an accurate representation of your subject knowledge is useful to set targets for pre-course preparation. Please do not second guess what you think we may be looking for in your audit.

A Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship is a professional course during which assessment of your subject knowledge is an important part of the development process. Below are the criteria that you will use to ‘assess’ yourself against for each SK statement.

We acknowledge that many successful applicants will correctly assess themselves as ‘needs attention’ for parts of the audit.

  • Strong: could answer A Level question
  • Secure: could answer difficult GCSE question
  • Needs attention: you have limited understanding of concept

You may wish to look at the National Curriculum (Key Stage 4) before attempting the audits. Please remember this is not a test, but a snapshot of where you are now. 

Completing the audit

Use the links below to access your subject’s SK audit. You only need to complete your own subject’s subject knowledge audit. The audit should take between 10 – 15 minutes (maximum). Once started, an individual subject discipline audit must be completed in one sitting.

For Science specialisms

The science subject knowledge audit covers the key biology, chemistry and physics topics covered in GCSE science. Please rank your confidence against each statement irrespective your subject specialism. Please ensure you complete the audits prior to attending the interview selection day.

Other specialisms

Online interviews

Our interviews are conducted by online. You are most likely to be interviewed by a subject tutor, a specialist in the subject that you are applying for. Your interview will be recorded. At the very start of the interview connection the recording will begin, and you will be asked to confirm that you are happy for the interview to be recorded. The interview will be terminated if you are not prepared to have the interview recorded. Find out more information about consent to record.

Once recording has been confirmed, you will need to show two forms of photo ID.

  • give a 3-min presentation with the title 'What makes an effective teacher ?' This is essentially a monologue on your part with no access to digital support, but you could bring a prop with you to help engage your audience. (see section ‘preparation for interview’ for more details)
  • complete an English writing activity – you will not be able to prepare for this but may wish to make yourself familiar with Teachers’ Standard 8 - Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
  • answer subject based questions.

Following your presentation, you will be asked a few questions and at the end there will also be an opportunity for you to ask the interviewer any questions you may have to help you make an informed decision about entering the teaching profession and about studying at St Mary's.. It is unlikely you will be asked questions that will surprise you if you have given this process some thought. We have already seen something in your application which indicates that we think you might make a good teacher. The interviewer will try to further explore your reasons for wanting to become a teacher and the steps that you have taken to inform this decision.

Towards the end of your interview you will be asked to confirm whether there are any health or medical issues and any criminal convictions that may inhibit your work with young people. It is very important that you make a full disclosure of any issues at interview, particularly if you have highlighted a disability on your UCAS application form. It is unusual, in our experience, for the nature of the disclosures to stop the individual pursuing a career in teaching. At the end of the interview, we will expect you to declare if you are in the process of considering any other teacher training programme(s). Find out more information about DBS and Fitness to Teach disclosures.

Candidates will generally be notified of the University's final interview decision on your application within five working days of your interview.