The Student Room Group
Students at Cornwall campus, University of Exeter
University of Exeter
Exeter

Exeter PGCE Primary Interview - anyone done it?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by silvereleven
I'm also on the Primary PGCE with English yay! Can't wait to start now....


What was the interview like? I just applied (bit late, I know...) so waiting to hear if I have an interview... what happened on the day?
Students at Cornwall campus, University of Exeter
University of Exeter
Exeter
Original post by Writer_Kitty
What was the interview like? I just applied (bit late, I know...) so waiting to hear if I have an interview... what happened on the day?


Well first of all, all of the English candidates were taken into a classroom and given a brief introduction to what the course is like etc. Then we were split into groups and given a poem which we had to discuss, and talk about how you would use it in the classroom, across the curriculum etc. Ours was a Scottish poem, so we talked about how exploring cultural differences and themes of travel, then gave feedback about it to the other groups. We then did our presentations about our chosen book to our small groups,which was a bit nerve-wracking at first but fine in the end! The writing task was basically to write about a current educational issue from BBC or other media, think this was more to assess grammar/spelling and writing skills.We then had our individual interviews of about 20 mins, which was really just an informal chat about why I wanted to go into teaching, things learnt from work experience, all that kind of thing.

That was about it! It was much less scary than I thought it would be, nice and informal and everyone I met at interview was lovely. Good luck! And if you have any other questions, give me a shout :smile:
Original post by silvereleven
Well first of all, all of the English candidates were taken into a classroom and given a brief introduction to what the course is like etc. Then we were split into groups and given a poem which we had to discuss, and talk about how you would use it in the classroom, across the curriculum etc. Ours was a Scottish poem, so we talked about how exploring cultural differences and themes of travel, then gave feedback about it to the other groups. We then did our presentations about our chosen book to our small groups,which was a bit nerve-wracking at first but fine in the end! The writing task was basically to write about a current educational issue from BBC or other media, think this was more to assess grammar/spelling and writing skills.We then had our individual interviews of about 20 mins, which was really just an informal chat about why I wanted to go into teaching, things learnt from work experience, all that kind of thing.

That was about it! It was much less scary than I thought it would be, nice and informal and everyone I met at interview was lovely. Good luck! And if you have any other questions, give me a shout :smile:


Aww thanks so much! What were most people wearing to interview? What did you wear?

How long did you have for the written task?
Original post by Writer_Kitty
Aww thanks so much! What were most people wearing to interview? What did you wear?

How long did you have for the written task?


I wore a red shift dress with a suit jacket and ballet pumps and felt pretty comfortable! Most people were wearing the same kind of thing! I think we had around 20 minutes for the task. Good luck :smile:
Original post by silvereleven
I wore a red shift dress with a suit jacket and ballet pumps and felt pretty comfortable! Most people were wearing the same kind of thing! I think we had around 20 minutes for the task. Good luck :smile:


Aww thanks. What did you do for your presentation if it isn't rude to ask? Did you simply present the book and the key themes/ideas or did you go further and explain how you would teach it?

Did you get to watch many other presentations? What were they like?

Sorry for all the questions!
Original post by Writer_Kitty
Aww thanks. What did you do for your presentation if it isn't rude to ask? Did you simply present the book and the key themes/ideas or did you go further and explain how you would teach it?

Did you get to watch many other presentations? What were they like?

Sorry for all the questions!


Hehe, nope not rude at all! I did a Julia Donaldson book, and brought in some resources to explain how I would teach it to a KS1 age group. Went through the key themes of the book, how it would appeal to children, which bits of it I could use in the classroom e.g. the animal theme. Also talked about how the children could act out the book and how it could be used as a basis for independent writing, or a more artistic project such as a wall display. Everyone else did a PowerPoint presentation, but I just used the book and my props to talk through it.

I watched 5 (i think) other presentations, they were all really good but targeted an older age group than my book did so were a bit different. One person did a Harry Potter book, and gave examples of how you could do a "Potions" lesson to link into the Science part of the National Curriculum which I thought was really good! Just try to make suggestions about how you would use your chosen book across the curriculum as much as possible, they seemed to like that!

Whoops, sorry for the essay! Hope its useful :smile: Let me know how it goes!
Original post by silvereleven
Hehe, nope not rude at all! I did a Julia Donaldson book, and brought in some resources to explain how I would teach it to a KS1 age group. Went through the key themes of the book, how it would appeal to children, which bits of it I could use in the classroom e.g. the animal theme. Also talked about how the children could act out the book and how it could be used as a basis for independent writing, or a more artistic project such as a wall display. Everyone else did a PowerPoint presentation, but I just used the book and my props to talk through it.

I watched 5 (i think) other presentations, they were all really good but targeted an older age group than my book did so were a bit different. One person did a Harry Potter book, and gave examples of how you could do a "Potions" lesson to link into the Science part of the National Curriculum which I thought was really good! Just try to make suggestions about how you would use your chosen book across the curriculum as much as possible, they seemed to like that!

Whoops, sorry for the essay! Hope its useful :smile: Let me know how it goes!


Oh that's so useful, thank you! I was really getting bogged down with writing a full lesson plan and giving myself a real headache. I don't want to do a PowerPoint either... no child wants death by PowerPoint at school and you'll be talking in front of a group of people without one when you teach anyway, so I don't see the point.

What about the interview part? Were the tutors nice? What kind of questions did they ask?
Original post by Writer_Kitty
Oh that's so useful, thank you! I was really getting bogged down with writing a full lesson plan and giving myself a real headache. I don't want to do a PowerPoint either... no child wants death by PowerPoint at school and you'll be talking in front of a group of people without one when you teach anyway, so I don't see the point.

What about the interview part? Were the tutors nice? What kind of questions did they ask?


Yep they were all lovely-very friendly and the interview bit felt more like an informal chat! I was asked about challenges I had to overcome whilst working in schools, where I saw myself in 5 years time etc. Then was asked if I had any questions about the course. Overall, the interview was so much less stressful than I thought it would be!
Original post by silvereleven
Yep they were all lovely-very friendly and the interview bit felt more like an informal chat! I was asked about challenges I had to overcome whilst working in schools, where I saw myself in 5 years time etc. Then was asked if I had any questions about the course. Overall, the interview was so much less stressful than I thought it would be!


That's good to know! My last interview the lady sat down with a sheet of paper with questions on it and was writing down my answer to each question and it felt awkward and robotic... it wasn't all a conversation, which really unnerved me! :s So I hope I do better for Exeter :smile: What was the hardest part of the interview? How many people were being interviewed on the day?

Sorry for all the questions, but you're being uber helpful :smile:
Original post by Writer_Kitty
That's good to know! My last interview the lady sat down with a sheet of paper with questions on it and was writing down my answer to each question and it felt awkward and robotic... it wasn't all a conversation, which really unnerved me! :s So I hope I do better for Exeter :smile: What was the hardest part of the interview? How many people were being interviewed on the day?

Sorry for all the questions, but you're being uber helpful :smile:


I reckon the hardest part of the interview was doing the presentation in front of everyone, because you're inevitably going to draw comparisons between their ideas and yours. But in general, none of it was too taxing and I actually enjoyed the whole process! I think there was around 15 of us in total being interviewed, but then we were split into small groups of around 5 to do the poetry task and the presentations.

Haha, I don't mind answering any questions, just hope it's all useful-I went into the interview not knowing much about the process and it was a bit daunting!
Original post by silvereleven
I reckon the hardest part of the interview was doing the presentation in front of everyone, because you're inevitably going to draw comparisons between their ideas and yours. But in general, none of it was too taxing and I actually enjoyed the whole process! I think there was around 15 of us in total being interviewed, but then we were split into small groups of around 5 to do the poetry task and the presentations.

Haha, I don't mind answering any questions, just hope it's all useful-I went into the interview not knowing much about the process and it was a bit daunting!


I GOT IN TO EXETER!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Just got the message on GTTR and made it my Firm choice :biggrin:

Thank you so much for all your help - I'll be seeing you in September!!
Original post by Writer_Kitty
I GOT IN TO EXETER!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Just got the message on GTTR and made it my Firm choice :biggrin:

Thank you so much for all your help - I'll be seeing you in September!!


Well done!!! That's so exciting, see you in a few months yay!
Original post by silvereleven
Well done!!! That's so exciting, see you in a few months yay!


Woop woop!

Just got my CRB form through the post... I had no idea it was going to cost £48!! *sob*

What are you going to do about accomodation? We're not meant to take a year's contract because of the placements, so how is it meant to work? Just get a 6 month contract or something??
Original post by Writer_Kitty
Woop woop!

Just got my CRB form through the post... I had no idea it was going to cost £48!! *sob*

What are you going to do about accomodation? We're not meant to take a year's contract because of the placements, so how is it meant to work? Just get a 6 month contract or something??


I know, that was a lovely surprise! Eek I don't know about accommodation... I live about a half hour drive from Exeter so can always commute if I need to but don't really want to do that! Does the St Lukes campus provide any accommodation for PGCE students? Haven't got any info through the post about it!
Original post by silvereleven
I know, that was a lovely surprise! Eek I don't know about accommodation... I live about a half hour drive from Exeter so can always commute if I need to but don't really want to do that! Does the St Lukes campus provide any accommodation for PGCE students? Haven't got any info through the post about it!


Well I guess that's not too bad for you but I'm going to have to find a place. I just went on the exeter uni website and stumbled across the accomodation pages. I'm not really sure about halls exactly but as for flats/houses they seem to have their own list... I clicked the link but it says to contact the Accomodation Office because you need a password to log in with...

Quick Reply