Questions to Ask After a Teaching Interview
Questions for the part of a teaching interview where the panel turns it over to you, plus the ones worth asking in the days afterwards: timetable and preps, behaviour support, induction, duties beyond the classroom, why the post is vacant, and next steps.
20 questions, each with the reason to ask it · includes a conversation guide
The questions
Open any question to see why it works.
- 1
What would my timetable look like: which year groups, and how many separate preparations?
The number of distinct courses you prepare for matters far more than the number of lessons you teach. Two sections of one subject and four different subjects are the same teaching load on paper and completely different jobs in practice.
- 2
Would I be taking over an existing class part way through, or starting fresh?
Inheriting a class after a resignation, a long absence or a string of supply teachers is a different first term, and the panel will usually tell you plainly if you ask. It also tells you how much goodwill you will be spending before you have any.
- 3
Who else teaches this subject or year group, and how do you plan together?
You are finding out whether there is a shared scheme of work or whether every teacher builds their own from scratch. A department that plans jointly is the biggest single difference to your workload in year one.
- 4
What curriculum and materials would I be given on day one?
Ask whether it exists in a form you could actually pick up and teach from. A lot of freedom sometimes means nothing has been written down, and the panel will often say so if the question is put as a practical one.
- 5
How many students are in a typical class, and how many have plans or additional needs?
The second number is the one that determines your week, and it is rarely volunteered. Follow it with a question about what support staff come with those students and how often they are pulled away to cover elsewhere.
- 6
What happens when I need to remove a student from my classroom?
The answer tells you whether the office backs teachers or quietly returns the student five minutes later. A vague or philosophical response to this question reliably predicts the hardest part of the job.
- 7
What does induction look like for someone new here?
You want to know whether there is an assigned mentor with protected time, or a folder and a friendly hello. Ask who the mentor would be, because a named person is a real programme and an unnamed one usually is not.
- 8
What comes with this post beyond teaching: clubs, coaching, duties, trips?
Extras are usually assumed rather than stated, and in some schools they are effectively part of the contract. Asking now is much easier than declining in October.
- 9
How is teaching evaluated here, and how often would I be observed?
Ask who does the observing and whether it is developmental or judgemental. Schools differ enormously, and the answer shapes how much of your first year is spent performing rather than teaching.
- 10
What professional development is funded, and does it happen during school time?
Money for courses is common. Cover so you can attend them is not. The second half of the question is the one that separates a real commitment from a line in a policy document.
- 11
What happened to the person who had this post before?
Promoted, retired, moved away, or left teaching entirely are four different answers. If the same post has been vacant more than once in recent years, that is the most informative single fact you will get in the room.
- 12
How long have most of the staff in this department been here?
Long tenure can mean a settled team or a closed one, and short tenure usually speaks for itself. Follow up by asking who joined most recently and how they found their first term.
- 13
What are families here like, and how do you expect me to communicate with them?
Parent expectations vary enormously between schools and are almost never mentioned in a job advert. Ask specifically about response times, because an expectation of same-day replies to evening emails is worth knowing before you accept.
- 14
What is the school working on improving this year?
This tells you where the pressure is and what your appraisal will quietly be about. A panel that names one specific priority is easier to work for than one that lists eight.
- 15
What has changed since your last inspection or review?
Asked calmly, this is a fair question and most leaders are ready for it. Notice whether they describe changes to systems or only changes to attitude, since only one of those helps you in the classroom.
- 16
What do teachers here find hardest?
You are asking for the downside directly. A panel member who gives you a real answer is more trustworthy for the rest of the process than one who insists everything is wonderful, and you can decide whether their hardest part is one you can live with.
- 17
What would you want to see from me by the end of my first term?
This converts a vague job into a brief, and it shows you what they actually measure. Write the answer down, because it is the closest thing you will get to your future appraisal targets.
- 18
Is there anything from my lesson today you would want me to explain further?
The recovery question. If a moment in your sample lesson or an answer went badly, this is your one chance to address it before the panel goes off to talk about you.
- 19
What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear?
Ask for a date rather than a timeframe, and ask who will be in touch. It also tells you when a follow-up email would be reasonable rather than pushy.
- 20
If I am appointed, who would be my main point of contact before I start?
Asking this signals you are thinking about the job rather than the interview, and it gives you a name for the practical questions about materials, keys and rooms that always arrive in August.
Using your time at the end well
Practical guidance for the conversation itself.
Choosing which questions to ask
Choosing which questions to ask
You will realistically get two or three
Panels leave five minutes, not twenty. Pick one question about the work itself, one about support, and one about the school, and keep a fourth in reserve in case an earlier answer opens something up.
Ask the timetable question first
It is practical, nobody minds it, and the answer often contains the information you would have got from three other questions. It also positions you as someone already thinking about the teaching rather than the appointment.
Do not ask anything already covered in the tour
Most teaching interviews include a walk round the building where half of this gets answered. Asking again reads as not listening, which is a bad note to end on in a job about attention.
Have one question for each person on the panel
A head teacher, a head of department and a governor will each be able to answer different things well. Directing a question at the right person gets you a better answer and shows you understood who was in the room.
Save these until there is an offer
Save these until there is an offer
- Where you would be placed on the pay scale, and whether previous experience carries across.
- The exact contract type and length, including whether the post is funded permanently or attached to a temporary arrangement.
- Start date, and whether any induction days fall before the term begins.
- Whether you can see the actual timetable rather than a description of it.
- Any request to change hours, teach a different year group, or share the role. These are reasonable to raise once they have decided they want you, and awkward before.
In the days after the interview
In the days after the interview
- 1Write down every question you were asked, while you still remember the wording. Teaching interviews recycle questions across schools, and this becomes your preparation for the next one.
- 2Send a short thank-you email the same day or the next morning, addressed to whoever chaired. Two or three sentences, one of which refers to something specific that was discussed.
- 3If you were told a date and it passes, wait two working days and then ask once, politely, for an update. Schools are slow because references and governors are involved, not usually because the answer is no.
- 4If you are unsuccessful, ask for feedback in writing and ask for one thing you could do differently. Most schools will give it, and in teaching you may well be applying there again.
- 5Note anything the panel said that worried you. If you get an offer, those notes are what you should be asking about before you accept.