Hiya!
I've had two interviews so far, at Kingston and Brighton.
I was unsuccessful at both!
Kingston I wasn't surprised about as I was sooo nervous but I actually got a good vibe from Brighton so couldn't help but be a bit gutted!
At Kingston we had to watch a DVD of two carers talking about their views and experiences of social workers. We then had to answer two comprehension questions, which I think were:
What views do they express and how do they differ from one another,
Has this DVD changed or developed your views in any way, and if so, how?
That I found fairly easy, we had about 45 minutes to do the written bit I think.
Everybody who passed the test was allowed to stay, people who didn't were sent hope! Quite nerve racking when you're split up into two groups and you aren't sure if you're one of the 'keepers' or not! We were then given a presentation about the course and then had indivual interviews with one member of academic staff and a service user (although my service user hadn't been able to make it). I don't think there were any questions that were particularly unusual from memory but I completely let my nerves get the better of me and at the end of the interview I was told "I'm going to give you some immediate feedback: you said that you are emotionally stable, but you don't come across it in interviews. This is an important part of social work. Are you normally this nervous?". That did not do much to calm my nerves lol! So yes, I would maybe not recommend claiming to be emotionally stable when you're fumbling over your words - lesson learnt haha!
Brighton wasn't quite so traumatic! Again, we were given a presentation by a member of staff, 1 carer and 2 social work practitioners. We were then interviewed by member of staff + 1 of the other three. They were all very friendly and did their best to make everybody feel at ease. The interview lasted for about 40 mins but went very quickly! Again, I can't think now of any massively unusual questions but there were a couple that caught me off guard, will write again if I remember them! We then had to read an article written by a service user who had been selected for 'personalisation' and give our views on it. This shook me a little as it's not something I had any prior knowledge about but they're only assessing your writing abilities and views really and don't expect you to have prior knowledge so don't worry!
I have an interview at Bath on the 8th Feb (Aaaaaaaaahh!!) which I am very excited/ nervous about, one @ Bournemouth on the 23rd and haven't sent my questionnaire back to UWE yet. Has nobody else found the questions quite probing? lol. Soo hard trying to think of a time when I've been angry or upset someone but turning it into a positive :
Hope this helps someone because I've found it very useful reading through everyone elses posts!