ABSTRACT
Interviews So, you’ve decided to be a teacher Great! Despite all the recruitment problems and the advertising to tempt you into the profession, choosing and getting on the right training course for you is not easy, despite teacher shortages. Every year committed people are turned down This chapter will give you information about entry requirements, all the numerous routes you can go down and their financial incentives It has tips on completing application forms and being successful at interview
Entry requirements
The entry requirements to get onto any teaching course are fixed, and you need to make sure you meet them before even thinking about applying. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) Teaching Information Line should be your first port of call (0845 6000991 or 6000992 for Welsh speakers) For instance, you’ll need to get studying if you don’t have GCSE maths or English at C grade or above You can apply for a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) course before the results are known so long as the exam date is fixed, but obviously, people with the
qualifications already will have an advantage. (Entry requirements are the same in Northern Ireland as those in England and Wales.)
● satisfy themselves that all entrants have the capability to meet the QTS standards by the end of their training and that they possess appropriate personal and intellectual qualities to be teachers;
● ensure that all entrants have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C in the GCSE examination in English and mathematics;
● ensure that all entrants born on or after 1 September 1979 who enter primary or Key Stages 2/3 training have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C in the GCSE examination in a science subject;
● ensure that all entrants have met the Secretary of State’s requirements for physical and mental fitness to teach, as detailed in the relevant circular;
● ensure that systems are in place to seek information on whether entrants have a criminal background that might prevent them working with children or young persons, or as a teacher; and ensure that entrants have not previously been excluded from teaching or working with children;
● satisfy themselves that all entrants can read effectively, and are able to communicate clearly and accurately in spoken and written Standard English;
● ensure that, in the case of postgraduate courses of initial teacher training, entrants hold a degree of a UK higher education institution or equivalent qualification;
● ensure that, as part of the selection procedures, all candidates admitted for training have taken part in a group or individual interview. (TTA, 2002b:14)
Many courses are over-subscribed, and every year lots of people who have expected to be on a training course by the following September are disappointed. Courses can set their own entry requirements that are higher than the TTA basic ones. The TTA runs taster courses around the country. Some of these are aimed at particular groups such as people
from minority ethnic groups. These are well worth going to. They give you detailed information about routes into teaching, the answers to questions that you hadn’t even thought of, organise meetings with teachers and time in schools, and enable you to meet people in the same boat.
