Applications are reviewed and scored against shortlisting criteria to help us decide which candidates might be suitable to train to teach. If you have not been shortlisted for an interview, we will give you some feedback as to how you can strengthen your application should you wish to apply again in the future.

If you have been shortlisted, we will invite you to attend an interview at The Priory School, or online if your personal circumstances make an in person interview difficult. Your invitation will include details of a pre-interview task, and a presentation brief that you should prepare for your interview.

If you have any special requirements relating to accessibility or inclusion, please let us know in advance so that we can make reasonable adjustments to support you.

Interviews are conducted by a small panel of two or three, which will include a teacher of your chosen subject. The interview will be broken down into the following sections: -

• Presentation & follow up questions from subject specialist (5-10 mins)
• Subject specific questions to explore your level of subject knowledge (15-20 mins)
• General questions to explore your transferable skills, motivation and understanding of teaching and its wider responsibilities (15-20 mins)
• Pre-interview task feedback & wellbeing question (5-10 minutes)
• An opportunity for questions from the candidate (5-10 minutes)

The interview is an opportunity for us to get to know you and what has motivated you to want to train to teach. Whilst we need to be sure that you have enough subject knowledge to teach, we are looking for candidates who demonstrate the potential to become outstanding teachers.

We aim to inform candidates of our decision the same day.

If you have not been successful at interview, we will give you some feedback and you will be offered an opportunity for a conversation with more detailed feedback.

All offers of a place on the programme will be conditional. The standard conditions placed on all offers will be:

• A minimum of 2 satisfactory references (one of which should be academic if you have studied within the last 5 years)
• Satisfactory DBS check
• Completion of a Declaration of Health questionnaire

We may place additional conditions upon your offer such as completing a subject knowledge enhancement, but these will be discussed with you during the interview.

Your offer on the Apply portal will be processed by University of Chester. There may be a delay between our e-mail and the offer on Apply.

Your offer on Apply will give you a full list of all conditions that must be met before you start training.

You should accept or decline the offer on the Apply portal. There is no longer a deadline for candidates to respond to offers, but we ask that you let us know as soon as you have had the opportunity to consider fully.

Once you accept our offer, your references will be requested and reviewed.

You should spend some time familiarising yourself with the curriculum and GCSE specifications for your subject area

You will receive a ‘Welcome’ email from the University which will have further details and instructions on how to complete your enrolment. This will include a bursary form and DBS details.

We will also invite you to attend a welcome event in July which will be an opportunity to meet your fellow trainees

You have met all your conditions, enrolled successfully, completed all your pre-course tasks and are now ready to train to teach