PGCE interview practice
Show your PGCE panel the teacher you’re ready to become.
Rehearse motivation, safeguarding and subject explanations with an AI tutor. Turn classroom experience into answers that put pupils at the centre.
For graduates and career-changers applying for a PGCE, School Direct or SCITT place. Applications open from 6 October 2026.
- Voice only, no camera
- Reads your personal statement and the provider
- Every day, up to two hours
$12.99 a week or $29.99 a month. Cancel at any time in Settings.
“Explain a key idea in your subject in 60 seconds, as you would to Year 9.”
- Subject knowledge and pedagogy
- Classroom communication
- Reflection and professional judgement
- Working with others and professional values
“I was talking about enjoying my subject and barely mentioning the pupils. The practice helped me explain why I wanted to teach it.”
Questions you’ll practise
Common phrasings of what this interview asks, and what each one tests. An AI teacher-training tutor works from your own application, so expect follow-ups on what you say.
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“Explain a key idea in your subject in 60 seconds, as you would to Year 9.”
Tests: pitching your subject to a real class
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“Why do you want to teach, and why now?”
Tests: motivation grounded in real experience
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“How would you manage low-level disruption in a lesson?”
Tests: calm, consistent behaviour management
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“What would you do if your explanation clearly wasn’t landing?”
Tests: checking understanding and adapting on the spot
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“What makes a good lesson?”
Tests: how pupils actually learn
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“Tell me about a time you worked with young people.”
Tests: real experience with the age group
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“How would you support a pupil with SEND in your class?”
Tests: inclusion and adaptive teaching
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“How would you handle a parent who is unhappy with their child’s progress?”
Tests: professional communication with parents
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“How do you take feedback on your teaching?”
Tests: reflection and openness to a mentor
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“How will you manage your workload in your training year?”
Tests: resilience and realistic planning
Setup takes about two minutes.
In the 2025 to 2026 cycle, 20,644 candidates who applied for teacher training in England through the DfE’s Apply service had every application rejected, up from 16,208. Source: Department for Education
The interview is where a provider hears the teacher behind your personal statement.
The season in numbers
candidates applied for teacher training in England through Apply in the 2025 to 2026 cycle, up from 55,637 at the same point a cycle earlier
Source: Department for Educationpeople started postgraduate teacher training in England in 2025/26, up 12% on the year before
Source: Department for EducationKnow what to change before the real interview
See where your answer lost its point, what was missing and what to try next. Your own words, with feedback on each question and scores across four skills.
Accurate, but pitched at a degree, not at Year 9.
“So, um, osmosis is basically the net movement of water across a partially permeable membrane, down a…”
Open with one sentence a pupil could repeat, give one everyday example, then ask a question that checks they got it.
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“Explain a key idea in your subject in 60 seconds, as you would to Year 9.”
Correct, but it ran past the minute and never checked understanding.
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“Why do you want to teach, and why now?”
A real moment from your experience. Say what it changed in you, not just that it happened.
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“A pupil asks you to keep a secret. What do you do?”
You didn’t promise secrecy. Now name the designated safeguarding lead, and say the same day.
Illustrative example. Your scores will differ.
“I knew the safeguarding steps in my notes. Saying what I would actually do next, with a follow-up question, was a useful check.”
One question, and what a strong answer does
An example of the kind of question you’ll be asked, and what the feedback looks for.
“At the end of a lesson, a Year 9 pupil tells you something at home is making them scared to go back, and asks you to keep it secret. What do you do?”
Follow-up: “And what would you say to the pupil in that moment?”
What a strong answer does
- Listens calmly and does not promise to keep it secret, explaining kindly that it may need to be shared to keep them safe.
- Does not question the pupil in detail or investigate: records what was said, in their words, with the time and date.
- Reports it to the designated safeguarding lead straight away, the same day, following the school’s policy.
- Knows the limits of the role: the DSL decides the next step, and the trainee follows up only as asked.
What it costs
Spoken interview sessions on either plan, up to two hours of interviews a day.
Spoken interview sessions, up to two hours of interviews a day
A week of focused preparation when your interview is just days away.
Need more than a week? Two weekly payments total $25.98. From three weeks on, the monthly plan costs less.
Cancel at any time in Settings, with no cancellation fee. You keep access until the end of the period you paid for.
Before you ask
Is an AI good enough?
For the reps, yes. It asks, listens and follows up on what you actually said, up to two hours a day, at 2 a.m. or the night before. Then it scores four skills and quotes your own words back, so you know exactly which answer to fix.
What is the 60-second teach?
The tutor names a topic in your subject and asks you to explain it out loud in about a minute, as if to a class, then asks how you’d check they understood. Spoken only: no slides and no whiteboard.
Will it know my subject and my provider?
Paste your personal statement and the provider’s own page. It asks why there from what the page says. It is built not to guess at facts the page doesn’t give.
How fast can I start?
Setup takes about two minutes and needs no account. You choose a plan before your first interview.
How it works
Set up in about two minutes, then interview out loud and see your scores.
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Add your personal statement and the provider
Paste your personal statement (a CV is optional), then paste your provider’s page. Both are optional, and setup takes about two minutes.
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Interview out loud
Pick 10, 15 or 20 minutes. One AI tutor asks, listens and follows up on what you actually said, including your 60-second teach.
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Get scored on four skills
Subject knowledge and pedagogy, classroom communication, judgement and professional values, each scored, with your own words quoted back and feedback question by question.
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Go again before the next provider
Swap in the next provider’s page, or a different topic in your subject, and practise again. Go again any day, up to two hours of interviews a day.
The night before
The same evening, two ways.
Without rehearsing
- You’ve read your personal statement so often it sounds like someone else’s.
- Your explanation in your subject has never been said out loud, and it runs long.
- The safeguarding question still starts with “I’d probably try to help them myself…”.
After practising out loud
- You’ve said why teaching, and why now, out loud, with a follow-up behind it.
- Your explanation lands inside a minute, and you know how you’d check they got it.
- Your safeguarding answer ends with the designated safeguarding lead, the same day.
The season’s dates
From the organisations that set them, so you can plan your sessions backwards.
- 20 January 2027
January-start applications with no provider decision are rejected, including those at interview stage
Source: Department for Education - 21 September 2027
Last time to submit an application in the 2026 to 2027 cycle (6pm UK time)
Source: Department for Education - 29 September 2027
September-start applications with no provider decision are rejected, including those at interview stage
Source: Department for Education
Good to know
15 minutes by default
Choose 10, 15 or 20 minutes; 15 is preselected. Choose 20 for a full mock, 10 for a short run before the day.
Voice only
Voice only: no camera and no video. The teaching task is spoken only, a 60-second explanation. Your answers are transcribed so they can be scored.
Your interviewer’s accent
Your interviewer speaks with a British accent. You can change it in Settings.
The 2026 to 2027 cycle takes applications from 6 October 2026 at 9am UK time. Practise before each interview.
Questions
What to know before you start practising.
Is the interviewer a real person?
What is the 60-second explanation?
Does it cover School Direct and SCITT as well as university PGCEs?
My interview is in a few days. Is it worth starting now?
Does it use my camera or record video?
What does it cost?
What doesn’t it cover?
Related interview practice
Updated on
Every provider hears your answers once. Hear them yourself first.
Your 60-second teach, the safeguarding question and why now, out loud, any day you need it.