placements, mentorship & interviews
Interview Question Bank:
Every school phrases their Key Selection Criteria (KSC) a bit differently, but underneath the wording most of them are drawing from the same seven Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
The following question bank is sorted into the categories most KSCs fall under, with a version for graduate teachers and a version for experienced teachers. To prepare for an interview, try picking two or three questions per category and actually rehearse them out loud, not just in your head.
1. Teaching Practice & Curriculum Knowledge
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Walk us through how you'd plan a unit of work from the curriculum, start to finish.
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What does differentiation actually look like in a lesson you've taught on placement?
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How would you cater for a student well above, or well below, the expected level in a mixed-ability class?
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What's your approach to explicit teaching versus inquiry-based learning?
2. Classroom & Behaviour Management
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Describe a behaviour management strategy you've used on placement, and how you knew it worked.
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How would you set up classroom expectations in the first week with a new class?
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Tell us about a time a lesson didn't go to plan due to student behaviour. What did you do?
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How would you respond if a strategy you tried for managing behaviour wasn't working?
3. Assessment, Data & Reporting
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How would you use formative assessment to check understanding within a lesson?
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What's your understanding of how NAPLAN or PAT data gets used at a school level?
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How would you approach writing your first set of student reports?
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How would you use assessment results to plan your next steps for a student who's struggling?
4. Relationships, Communication & Parent Engagement
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How would you handle a difficult conversation with a parent, especially as a new teacher?
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Describe how you built rapport with a class or a mentor during placement.
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How might you communicate a concern about a student to their family for the first time?
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How would you keep parents informed about their child's progress throughout the term, not just at reporting time?
5. Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing
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How would you support a student with additional learning needs in a mainstream classroom?
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How have you ensured you were being responsive and respectful to culture in a lesson you've delivered?
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How would you notice and respond to a student who seems to be struggling emotionally, not just academically?
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How would you incorporate student voice into your classroom?
6. Professional Learning & Reflection
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What's a piece of feedback from a mentor teacher that changed how you teach?
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How do you reflect on a lesson that didn't go well?
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What are you hoping to develop most in your first year of teaching?
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How do you plan to seek out mentoring or support in your first year?
7. School Values, Compliance & Working Within a Team
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What do you know about this school's values, and why do they appeal to you?
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What skills would you bring that would contribute to our school specifically?
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How does your training and experience so far align with our school's values?
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What does being a good colleague and team member look like to you, in a school setting?
8. Safeguarding & Child Safety
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What do you understand about mandatory reporting obligations as a teacher?
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If a student disclosed something concerning to you, what would you do, step by step?
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What would you do if you weren't sure whether something met the threshold for a report?
TIPS:
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Wherever a question asks for an example, structure it using STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Set the situation or scene in one sentence, explain the task you needed to achieve, walk through the action you took, then share the result. It keeps you from rambling and gives the panel the specifics of what they're listening for.
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Have one real classroom example per category ready to go, even a small one. Panels respond to specifics, not generalities.
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If you're a graduate without a classroom of your own yet, placement examples count. Say "on my final placement" with confidence.
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Give a closed, concrete answer rather than a broad philosophy. "What's your approach to X" answered with one real example beats three abstract sentences.
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Tell us about a unit or program you've redesigned, and what prompted the change.
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How has your teaching practice shifted in the last few years, and what drove that shift?
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Can you describe your understanding of your state's curriculum and teaching and learning model (eg Australian Curriculum v9, Victorian Curriculum 2.0 etc), and how you use both to inform your practice?
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Talk us through how you use explicit teaching and differentiation together in the same lesson.
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Tell us about the most challenging behaviour situation you've managed, and the outcome.
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How do you build a classroom culture that reduces behaviour issues by being proactive, rather than just reacting to them?
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How do you handle a behaviour management approach that isn't matching the whole-school policy?
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Give an example of supporting a colleague or graduate teacher with a behaviour challenge.
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Tell us about a time student data changed the direction of your teaching for a whole class or cohort.
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How do you moderate assessment with colleagues to keep judgements consistent?
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Describe how you've used assessment data to identify and close a specific learning gap.
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How do you use data to differentiate your teaching and guide intervention?
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How do you keep communication proactive with families, rather than only reaching out when there's a problem?
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Give an example of managing a disagreement with a colleague professionally.
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How do you contribute to a team, both in your faculty and across the whole school?
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Give an example of working collaboratively with colleagues, staff, parents, and the wider community to support student learning and wellbeing.
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Tell us about a time you adjusted your practice significantly for a student with a disability or additional need.
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How do you embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and community connections across your teaching, not just on specific days?
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How do you balance individual student needs with the needs of the whole class?
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How do you build student voice into your classroom on an ongoing basis?
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Tell us about professional learning you've undertaken and how it's changed your classroom practice.
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How do you keep your subject or curriculum knowledge current?
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Describe a time you sought out feedback rather than waited for it.
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How do you approach your own performance and development goals each year?
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Tell us about a time you contributed to a whole-school initiative or policy change.
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Describe how you've supported a school's values or improvement plan in a leadership or informal capacity.
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What skills and experience would you bring that would specifically contribute to our school?
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How do your teaching skills and experience align with our school's values?
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Talk us through your understanding of mandatory reporting protocols and how you follow them in practice.
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If you were unsure whether a concern warranted a report, who would you go to, and why?
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How do you show professional care for a student who discloses something to you, while still following the correct reporting steps?