Bcu - pgce

Is anyone able to help me regarding a BCU pgce interview?
Unfortunately I've had less than a week to prepare for this test/interview on weds 18, and I'm extremely anxious to do well. I've really searched this site well but still struggle to understand what exactly to expect.

I've got a KS2 general knowledge test, a group discussion about issues facing primary schools & been told to read up about teaching standards, and a written self-evaluation task, alongside an interview.

Any information would be really highly appreciated in this stressful time, particularly the test & discussion.

Once I've sat this interview myself i'll add as much info as poss to this thread :smile:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

Ellie2703

Hi,

I have an interview next week 23rd July, and like you I havent got much time to prepare, Please could you give me an idea of what the group discussion was like and also the self evaluation task?

Any information would be great!! :smile:

Hope yours went well

xx

Reply 2

Zbidd

Hiya, I'm more than happy to help you but just be aware that they do different tasks & discussions on different interview days (i think!) just incase what i tell you doesn't match up.

For the test it was almost all multiple choice, & they cover all the subjects they tell you to revise. I think it's about 10 questions for maths, english & science, & then about 5 questions for all the rest. I used bbc bitesize & bbc primary for a large majority of my revision & I knew a lot of the answers in the test, but I did ALOT of hard work & revised some ks3 alongside ks2 stuff when it linked in. It's hard to explain, but the questions & answers were all really simple (it was more questions like 'what is used to measure this?' or 'who wrote this?' so nothing really major in depth such as 'describe the water cycle'). I seriously can't remember any specific questions but from what I can vaguely remember I know you should (briefly) at least know mountains names & where they are located, famous authors & their work, artists & paintings, what art techniques are called, fractions & percentages, what nouns & verbs are etc, some rules of sports such as how many players & what certain moves are called, religious festival names & religious traditions such as baptism, & which centuries for royalty. These are only a snippet of what I can remember though. The good thing about it being multiple choice is that the answer is infront of you so at least you stand a better chance of guessing the answer correctly.

The group discussion for me was about the Teaching Standards: we were each given 1 standard & only talked about that particular standard for the 10mins (so what they what they were/meant, how we interpreted them, how we would implement them in the classroom, & I linked mine to any issues currently in school such as behaviour management, SEN or EAL students & budget cuts). Just print off the teaching standards & make notes for each one. They'll give you abit of time to prepare your discussion when you arrive (so get there earky), I'd recommend writing the order of discussion you want to do to help you not get flustered & to keep discussion flowing, & I'd recommend starting with a 1min introduction about the order you will take so your group knows when they will be expected to listen/talk (I know the woman who was making notes on us liked it when I did one as I got outstanding in my discussion) - there was a girl in my group that just kept talking over everyone constantly to the point of being rude, so I'm glad I showed I could keep control through using a structure.

The self evaluation task was just looking at our performance of that day; so strengths & weaknesses, & how we plan to move forward by setting realistic goals (so for mine I wrote that the general knowledge test showed I was very good at maths but my knowledge wasn't good at music, & for the discussion I lead my group well with good communication skills). Another tip is to look at your personal statement & adapt that to fit the task ... So good at teamwork, good presentation skills, good leadership etc.

Saying I was extremely worried & nervous on the day doesn't even come close to describing it, but actually once I was there it was quite relaxed so I really wouldn't worry too much. They're really nice people who are testing you & everyone who I was being tested with for that day all got along & helped each other :smile:

Reply 3

Ellie2703