PGCE Mathematics Interview Day

Congratulations on gaining an interview for the MSc in Education with QTS year 1 PGCE Mathematics course at Loughborough University.

This guidance informs you of the purpose and format of the interview and should help you to prepare.

On the day of your interview please go to the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) which can be found on the east side of our campus, by 9.30am. Please use the entrance to NCSEM pictured here, not the NHS Patient entrance that displays on the campus map.

A picture of the entrance to the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

If you are travelling by car, the nearest car parks are car parks 9, 13 and 14. If you are not able to find a space in any of these, you can use car park 1, which is a multi-storey on the west side of campus. Please make yourself familiar with the parking policy and charges.

Interview purpose and format

The purpose of the interview is to determine your suitability to teaching by focussing on your:

  • Specific qualifications;
  • Subject knowledge, skills and abilities;
  • Values, personal qualities and attributes; and
  • Commitment to teaching.

In particular, the interview procedures are designed to determine whether you meet the entry requirements for the course.

Keeping children and young people safe is essential, so applicants are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records, other vetting checks and the interview will include questions about safeguarding children.

In addition, as prospective trainees and teachers, we strongly advise you to review your online presence, carefully consider what you share publicly online, and remove any content which may raise questions about your professionalism and/or suitability for teaching. In accordance with the Teachers’ Standards, teachers are expected ‘to demonstrate consistently high standards of personal and professional conduct and they must ‘uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school.’ Some online content may be seen or interpreted to contravene these standards, which may have unfortunate consequences for the individual involved. For example, most schools now undertake social media checks and if any incidents or issues come to light, this could lead to a school refusing to host or employ a trainee or teacher respectively.

Interview process

Please note that you should dress appropriately for a formal interview. The interview process will involve five parts:

Here we will focus on your understanding of the PGCE course. It will be assumed that you have already read the information about this on our website. Opportunities will be provided during this time to ask general questions about the structure, content, and assessment of the PGCE course.

You will be given a task to work on that will require some reasoning and justification and asked to share your thinking with others.

You will be given two mathematics questions based upon higher GCSE and beginning A level content which you will be asked to work on individually. You will be given 25 minutes for this task.

You will be required to make a five minute presentation where we ask you to teach to us a particular topic, as if we are a Year 8 mixed ability class. Your topic has been sent to you.

For this presentation, you can write on a whiteboard (or similar), or you can use a pre-prepared slideshow (e.g., PowerPoint presentation).

The main purpose of the individual interview is to focus on your specific qualifications, skills and abilities, experiences, and personal qualities and to explore in particular your commitment to teaching. During this interview, you will be given opportunities to ask any questions that are specific to your personal circumstances.

This requires you to demonstrate your ability to interpret a piece of academic writing and communicate in written Standard English. You will be assessed in this task according to your ability to:

  • Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
  • Express yourself clearly and fluently, using appropriate vocabulary.
  • Produce an organised, logical and coherent piece of work.
  • Present your written work neatly and legibly.
  • Engage with the intellectual ideas within the given piece of academic writing.
  • Provide a relevant response to the task.

The precise task will be explained to you on the day, but this task will require a written response. The piece of academic writing can be found here. You should read it and have it available at interview.

Please note that you should dress appropriately for a formal interview.

Preparing for your interview

Prior to your interview, it is strongly advised that you:

It is recommended that you:

  • Familiarise yourself with the Key Stage 3 and 4 aspects of the National Curriculum for Mathematics;
  • Are reasonably well informed about current educational topics/issues;
  • Prepare your teaching presentation;
  • Read and have available the academic piece of writing;
  • Read the important programme information;
  • Reflect on your experiences and qualifications and why you might become a good teacher of mathematics.

What to bring to your interview

These must be original qualification certificates (not copies) of your GCSE in Maths and English Language or Literature, A level mathematics, and your degree. Don’t worry if you have not yet completed your degree and don’t therefore have your degree certificate, we can obtain this at a later date.

One form of identification from the following:

  • A current and valid Passport
  • A Biometric Residence Permit
  • A current Driving Licence photocard - (full or provisional)
  • Your birth certificate
  • Your adoption certificate.

Plus two other forms of identification from the following;

  • A current and valid Passport
  • a Biometric Residence Permit
  • a current Driving Licence photocard - (full or provisional)
  • your birth certificate; your adoption certificate
  • a Bank or Building society statement (issued in the last three months, print-outs from online banking/ downloaded PDF statements will not be accepted)
  • Marriage/civil partnership certificate
  • HM Forces ID card
  • Bank account opening confirmation letter (issued in the last three months)
  • Credit card statement (issued in the last three months)
  • Council Tax statement (issued in the last 12 months)
  • Utility bill (issued in the last three months. Not a mobile phone bill)
  • Mortgage statement (issued in last 12 months).

Please note: scanned copies of your ID and qualification documents will be confidentially stored by us. If for any reason you do not register on the PGCE programme, these copies will be deleted from our records.

Other things to bring

    Some lunch. There will be a short 30minute break at 12:00 and you may wish to have something to eat.

     

    Get to know our campus

    Finally, before attending the interview, you may want to get a sense of the University and campus here at Loughborough. The following links take you to a few short videos.

    We wish you well in both your preparation for the interview and in the interview itself.