Teach First 2015 (2014/15 cohort)

How long did it take you to complete yours?

Well I've finally submitted my CKA (at half 3 in the morning the night before it's due lol). I was not quite able to follow all of the advice the guidance gave me within the word limit but it reads quite well and answers the questions. Reeeally hoping they won't send it back to me - I never want to see it again! Good luck to those of you currently writing yours, I feel your pain!

Well done Lashton, I managed to submit mine the weekend before last and got the email last Friday saying it passed so it only took about 6 days for mine! Although again maybe science is faster to come back. The email I got back had some really nice comments, complementing my passion for the subject and saying my lesson at the interview was a really good idea. The only extra thing they said I need to do is read some past papers to get the idea of the assessment the students go through and test my own knowledge. I thought that was a really good idea! I'm sure yours will be fine too! I think they are just looking for your interest in the subject and honesty to say which parts you need to work on. =)

That's great Caro_Sci, well done! Sounds like you will be a great teacher

Just wondering whether anyone knows if they will ask a specific question about interaction and self evaluation in the interview, or whether those two competencies are just assessed throughout the day? Struggling to work out how I would answer a specific competency question about them...

I don't remember the questions I was asked very well (I tend to forget all interviews/exams as soon as I walk out of them). But I do remember that for some questions you get asked how you did something (this could be a question about leadership or getting bad feedback etc), and how you could do it better. The second part of the question is about self-evaluation. I'm guessing interaction was mostly assessed through the group work section but that doesn't mean they won't give you a question about it in the interview, so maybe have an example about team-work just in case! I remember some of the questions really threw me as they it is often not obvious what competency they are for, so just have a bunch of examples that work for several of them that you can adapt to fit different questions. Good luck!

Thanks for this, really useful! Getting so nervous now as my AC is on Wednesday!

I have my AC on 12th too. Also very nervous, especially about the interview. I'm not sure how I'd react to a question which throws me off

Yeah me too :/ I'll probably ask them to reword it a bit and hope for the best. I'm struggling most with the lesson timing, it so hard to judge

Yeah especially since you don't know how many distractions there will be. Are you going for primary or secondary?

Yeah especially since you don't know how many distractions there will be. Are you going for primary or secondary?

Hey everyone, just want to offer any help/advice about the whole TF process. I'm doing secondary English and had my AC back in Nov and have since completed both my CKA and QTS tests and now just waiting to hear back about my location (which I've been told by my recruiter will be 13th Feb incase anyone is as anxious as me to find out!)

Seriously, any question thats niggling you whether thats AC/CKA/QTS I'm happy to help as much as I can - this forum helped me a lot during the whole process so I just thought I'd try and give back

Aww thanks, I can tell by how much you care about this that you will be too =)

Have you done your skills tests yet? I have mine next week and I am so so worried! Mental arithmetic and spelling are not my best points I have to say!

Thanks Mine are booked for the 21st. I am terrible at maths, really bad, so I am pretty nervous! I tried the practice test once and it did not go well. But I've bought 'Passing the Numeracy Skills Test' by Mark Patmore and it has been quite useful so far so fingers crossed

Have you had your tests now? If not, good luck