Questions to Ask a Principal During an Interview
Questions for a teacher or support staff candidate to ask when the principal says "what questions do you have for me." They cover the specific vacancy, the timetable, the class you would take, and the support around it.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Why is this position open?
Why ask it
The most informative question you can ask first. A retirement, a growing year group, a promotion, and a resignation in November are four very different situations, and the answer sets up everything else you ask.
Who had this role before, and where did they go?
Why ask it
A post that has turned over three times in four years is telling you something the job description will not. Note whether the principal speaks about departed staff with warmth or with an edge.
What would my timetable actually look like: how many sections, how many separate preps, and which duties?
Why ask it
Preparation count is the real workload figure and it rarely appears in the posting. Four sections of one subject and four different courses are the same teaching load and not remotely the same job.
How many students would be in each class, and how many have support plans?
Why ask it
Ask for both numbers together. A class of twenty-eight with nine support plans and no assistant is the situation new teachers most often discover in September rather than in the interview.
Who would I plan with, and when in the week does that happen?
Why ask it
Collaboration either has a slot on the timetable or it does not exist. If the answer is that teachers find time informally, expect to plan alone in the evenings.
What curriculum would I be given, and what am I expected to write myself?
Why ask it
This determines your first two months. Being handed a full scheme of work is a different starting position from being handed a standards document and a shelf of old folders.
If I started in September, what would you want to be different by December?
Why ask it
Turns the vague question about expectations into a concrete target, and it reveals the problem they are actually hiring to solve. A principal who cannot answer has not thought past filling the vacancy.
What does support for a new teacher here look like in the first term, week by week?
Why ask it
Every school claims to have a mentor. The useful details are who it is, whether they have release time, and whether anyone checks in after October, when the goodwill usually runs out.
How often would I be observed, by whom, and what happens after an observation that goes badly?
Why ask it
The last part is the one that matters. Coaching and a follow-up visit, or a note in a file and a formal process, are the two possible cultures and both exist.
What happens when I send a student out of my room?
Why ask it
The concrete test of the behaviour policy. Whether there is a named person, a room, and a conversation afterwards decides how much of your energy the hardest classes will take.
How do you handle a parent who comes straight to you instead of to me?
Why ask it
A principal who redirects parents back to the teacher, with support, is describing a school where teachers are trusted. One who handles it personally is describing a school where they are not.
How are duties, clubs, and cover assigned, and which of them are paid?
Why ask it
Unpaid extras are the difference between a manageable job and a sixty-hour week. Ask what the typical load is rather than what the contract requires, and expect the two to differ.
What is there for classroom materials, and how do I ask for something?
Why ask it
The process matters as much as the number. A small budget you control is often better than a larger one that requires three signatures and a six-week wait.
When does the building open, and when do people actually leave?
Why ask it
Asks about the real expectation rather than the contracted hours, and principals tend to answer it honestly. Compare it against what you saw when you arrived for the interview.
How much of the teaching day is protected from assemblies, announcements, and pull-outs?
Why ask it
Frequent interruptions are a management choice and a common source of teacher frustration. A school that has counted them and reduced them will say so with some pride.
Who has been on this staff longest, and what keeps them here?
Why ask it
Long service is the strongest available signal about working conditions. Listen for whether the principal knows the answer in any detail or has to reach for it.
Can you tell me about a time a teacher pushed back on one of your decisions?
Why ask it
You are listening for whether such an event is imaginable to them, and how the teacher fared afterwards. "That doesn't really happen here" is itself the answer.
Could I speak with a teacher who joined in the last two years?
Why ask it
A reasonable request that is easy to grant and revealing to refuse. Recent joiners remember what surprised them, and they have not yet learned to describe it diplomatically.
Is there anything in my application that gives you pause?
Why ask it
Lets you answer the objection in the room rather than lose the post to it silently. Most interviewers will tell you, and the answer also shows you how directly they handle awkward conversations.
What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear from you?
Why ask it
Practical, and worth asking even when you suspect the answer. A vague timeline from a school that is hiring in July usually means you are the second choice.
Interviewing the School While It Interviews You
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Getting Real Information Out of an Interview
Ask about this vacancy, not the school in general
Everything you need to know is in the specifics of the post: why it is open, who had it, what the timetable holds, which class you would take. Broad questions about culture invite the answer the school gives every candidate.
Ask for numbers and write them down
Class sizes, support plans, preparation count, contact hours, budget. Numbers are checkable later and they let you compare two offers without relying on how each visit felt.
Get five minutes with a teacher alone
Ask to be shown to the exit by a classroom teacher rather than an administrator. The corridor question that works is "what would you have wanted to know before you started here?"
Watch the staff room and the corridors
Whether adults talk to each other at break, whether children are greeted by name, and what condition the shared spaces are in will tell you things no answer in the interview will.
Save pay and leave for the right moment
These are legitimate questions and they belong at the end, or with whoever handles contracts. Leading with them in front of a hiring panel reorders their impression of you for no gain.
Signals Worth Taking Seriously
Warmth in place of detail
"We're a family here" is often said by schools that ask a great deal for free. Follow any statement about culture with a request for an example from the last month.
Bad-mouthing the person who left
A principal who explains the vacancy by criticizing their former colleague is showing you how they will talk about you. Note it, and ask a second, quieter question about turnover.
No answer on behaviour support
If nobody can say what happens when a student is removed from a lesson, the answer is that nothing happens and the classroom is yours alone. This is the most common reason new teachers leave.
Pressure to accept on the spot
Asking for an answer before you leave the building suits the school and not you. Asking for a day, or until the end of the week, is standard and a reasonable principal will grant it.
If You Only Get Three Questions
First teaching post
- 1"Why is this position open?"
- 2"What does support for a new teacher look like in the first term?"
- 3"What happens when I send a student out of my room?"
Experienced teacher weighing a move
- 1"How many separate preps would I have?"
- 2"If I started in September, what would you want different by December?"
- 3"Who has been on this staff longest, and what keeps them here?"
Closing the interview
- 1"Could I speak with a teacher who joined in the last two years?"
- 2"Is there anything in my application that gives you pause?"
- 3"What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear?"