How to Research a School Before Your Teacher Interview

Useful interview research helps you understand the school and prepare thoughtful questions. It also helps you decide whether the role suits your experience, ambitions and working needs.

You do not need to memorise the website. Aim to identify a few relevant facts, distinguish them from assumptions and connect them with examples from your own practice.

Start with the vacancy

Read the job description and person specification before exploring the wider school. Highlight the responsibilities that appear most important and note the evidence you could offer for each.

Check the contract type, working pattern, year groups or subjects, and any additional responsibilities. If a detail is unclear, record it as a question rather than guessing.

Understand the school’s identity

Look at the school’s phase, age range, location and governance. Check whether it is part of a trust and whether the role involves work across more than one site.

The official Get Information about Schools service can help verify establishment details. Make sure you have the correct school, especially where names are similar.

Read the headteacher’s welcome and stated values, then look for examples of how those values appear in school life. News about pupil projects or curriculum events can give you useful conversation points.

Read the curriculum through the lens of your role

For a subject post, examine curriculum sequences, qualifications and any published subject priorities. For a primary role, look at the relevant phase and approaches to areas such as reading and mathematics.

Choose one feature you would like to understand more fully. You might ask: “I noticed that this topic appears earlier in your sequence than in my current school. What informed that decision?”

That invites a professional discussion without assuming your existing approach should replace theirs.

Read inspection information carefully

Use the official Ofsted report service to locate the relevant inspection material. Check its date and the framework under which the inspection took place.

Read the findings and identified priorities. An older report may describe issues that have since changed, so ask what the school has done since publication. Avoid treating an inspection label as a complete description of current working life.

Put published results in context

The government’s school performance service provides published information for schools in England. Check the year, measure and cohort before drawing conclusions.

Where figures vary, prepare a question about the context. Small cohorts, missing measures and changes in the pupil population can affect interpretation. You are preparing for an informed conversation, not producing a verdict from a spreadsheet.

Review the policies most relevant to your interview

Read safeguarding and behaviour policies, then any relevant SEND, assessment or curriculum information. Note the practical implications for the lesson you may teach and the scenarios you may discuss.

Look for version dates. If documents appear inconsistent or out of date, ask the school which version candidates should use.

Learn about the working environment

Read the recruitment pack for information about induction, professional development and staff support. Treat broad claims as starting points for questions.

For example, “We value staff wellbeing” could lead to: “Which recent change has made the greatest difference to staff workload?”

If offered a visit, observe how people communicate and use the opportunity to ask about the team. Keep any impressions provisional; one short visit cannot tell you everything.

Make a one-page preparation sheet

Use four short sections:

• Three facts about the school and where you found them.

• Two reasons the role appeals to you.

• Three examples showing what you could contribute.

• Three questions you still need answered.

This keeps your research usable. Before the interview, check that you can explain the connection between each fact and the role, rather than simply reciting information.

Find your next school opportunity with Aston Education.