PGDE Primary Edinburgh Students - Help!

Hi,

I've applied to Edinburgh for the PGDE Primary Course for this year. I've got an interview on 14th Feb and I'm wanting to prepare for it but since I'm one of the first interviewees for this year I can't seem to find much help.

I've been told that it will be a 45 minute group discussion but on my EULID it says 4 hours? Is there individual interviews also?

What did you do to secure a place as Edinburgh is my first choice and I would love to start this year!
Below are the questions they will be asking:

1)*****Describe an example of a good teacher you have known and what are the qualities and

skills they displayed.

2)*****Describe a successful piece of work that you have done with children or young people and

tell us why you think it was successful.

3)*****Can you identify an educational issue you believe poses a challenge for education today?

Candidates from outside Scotland may identify an issue pertinent to another country.

4)*****How inclusive are schools? What do you understand to be the potential barriers and

solutions to inclusive education?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!
Caitlin

Reply 1

StuartML

1

Hi Caitlin, how did your interview at Edinburgh go? I have mine on 1st March. Can I ask if you have any tips following your own interview. Did they ask all the questions on the list or just a few? Bit worried about the group interview format. Many thanks.

Reply 2

CM05

OP

2

Original post by StuartML

Hi Caitlin, how did your interview at Edinburgh go? I have mine on 1st March. Can I ask if you have any tips following your own interview. Did they ask all the questions on the list or just a few? Bit worried about the group interview format. Many thanks.

Hi there,

I felt it went okay. The interview itself was very relaxed but I sort of psyched myself up which in turn made me nervous. Hopefully it all went well in the interviewers' eyes though!

I would say not to worry, as long as you reflect on your own experiences and also have opinions about the curriculum then you should be fine. Still do lots of research about the curriculum and potential barriers, you can never be too prepared.

All in all, it's basically a discussion. I heard that Edinburgh teaches you in group formats so you can exchange ideas and that's what they're looking for.

Beforehand at the introduction to the course, the programme coordinator really helped.

Just be yourself and good luck! :smile:

Reply 3

StuartML

1

Hi Caitlin,
Many thanks for the info. I will try not to be too nervous! Hope you hear back from Edinburgh soon with an offer.

Reply 4

11.11

1

Original post by CM05

Hi there,

I felt it went okay. The interview itself was very relaxed but I sort of psyched myself up which in turn made me nervous. Hopefully it all went well in the interviewers' eyes though!

I would say not to worry, as long as you reflect on your own experiences and also have opinions about the curriculum then you should be fine. Still do lots of research about the curriculum and potential barriers, you can never be too prepared.

All in all, it's basically a discussion. I heard that Edinburgh teaches you in group formats so you can exchange ideas and that's what they're looking for.

Beforehand at the introduction to the course, the programme coordinator really helped.

Just be yourself and good luck! :smile:

Hi Caitlin! Sorry to hi-jack an old threat and hope you don't mind me asking - I have an interview tomorrow for the PGDE Primary at Edinburgh and was wondering if you could let me know the format? We have also been given 4 questions - are these asked to the group and then each person individually answers in turn, or is it kind of..whoever speaks, speaks..? Also is the entire interview simply discussion of the 4 questions, or are there any intros/group activities etc as well?

Thank you!

Reply 5

AlbaCal

2

Original post by 11.11

Hi Caitlin! Sorry to hi-jack an old threat and hope you don't mind me asking - I have an interview tomorrow for the PGDE Primary at Edinburgh and was wondering if you could let me know the format? We have also been given 4 questions - are these asked to the group and then each person individually answers in turn, or is it kind of..whoever speaks, speaks..? Also is the entire interview simply discussion of the 4 questions, or are there any intros/group activities etc as well?

Thank you!

Hi there! How did your interview go? I hope it went well :smile:

I myself am in the same position as you, I have on March 1st. Any advice? Have you heard back yet?

Reply 6

11.11

1

Original post by AlbaCal

Hi there! How did your interview go? I hope it went well :smile:

I myself am in the same position as you, I have on March 1st. Any advice? Have you heard back yet?

Hey!! Good luck! I got an unconditional offer just over a week after my interview which I am over the moon about (I already have all my grades) and I will be accepting this once all my other choices respond - haven't even heard anything back from Glasgow yet lol!

I would suggest writing up detailed answers for each of the 4 questions and learning these very securely - I practiced reciting my answers out loud so that I would not miss out anything that I really wanted to say. Make sure each of your answers have at least 1 mention of something observed during your work experience. They will ask you to speak for around 1-2 minutes on each of the 4 questions and ideally want the group to bounce off each other. Some people in my group went slightly off topic and perhaps lost their way a bit, so I would suggest making sure you keep the question in mind at all times to avoid this.

Good luck!!! :smile:

Reply 7

Alison Downie

2

I applied by the Jan 15th date & haven’t heard anything about an interview -guess I’m not getting one :-( x

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 8

lfram9800

1

Not necessarily - I had my definite no from Edinburgh by the 20th of Feb last year but still waiting to hear back this year - hoping I'm on a maybe list 🤞