How to Prepare for a Secondary School Interview.

One of the largest worries that both grade 6 students and their parents have all over the world is the question of what next, which school is best, how do i get into it, how do i apply. Part of this procedure is the secondary school interview. To prepare for a secondary school interview you need to remember a few important details.

Students can prepare for a secondary school interview by going over sample interview questions, having mock interviews, planning what you will wear, getting a good night’s sleep before, learning about the school and making lists of their achievements so they can mention them in the interview.

I have been preparing students for these interviews for over 15 years and even the most confident of pupils can freeze under the pressure that a secondary school interview can bring.

This is unnecessary, both the pressure an the freezing. With a little preparation and practice these interviews can be just another stepping stone on a students academic journey.

How to Prepare For a Secondary School Interview?

There is a saying is English called the the ”5 p’s” It stands for prior planning prevents poor performance. and this is doubly true with secondary school interviews ( and any other interviews for that matter) It is your chance to impress the school and secure an offer! The best way to ensure this is to practice and prepare before your interview date.

Secondary school interviews are designed for teachers to get as much information as they can from a large number of students in a small amount of time. To do well make sure you practice short informative answers that highlight your achievements and skills.These will allow you to stand out from the crowd.

Below we have a few ideas for how to prepare for your secondary school interview. There is plenty you can do before you even step in the door.

1. Practice your introduction. Nearly every secondary school interview you will go to will start the interview by asking you to introduce yourself. this is your chance to let them know some background information on you and to explain some of your achievements. We have a HUGE article in How to introduce yourself in English here and on the link at the bottom of this list. THis will help you write and plan your own perfect introduction.
2. Take a look at sample Secondary school interview questions and try to make some notes about how you would answer those. We have a list of potential questions here that you can download and use. Don’t try to memorie you answers but do practice them to help you remember when in the interview.
3. Plan to dress smart: Maybe you will attend in your primary school uniform, or maybe in a nice dress or shirt. Whichever it is make sure it is ready to wear the night before you secondary school interview. Extra points if you get it ready yourself!
4. Have Mock interviews with teachers or parents, if you have downloaded the interview questions you can give a copy to your parents and ask them to hold a mock interview so you can practice you answers. Sometimes things sound better in our heads and saying them outloud will help you discover this.
5. Get some sleep: It can be nervous doing secondary school interviews, this is only going to be made worse if you are tired. You need your brain to be working!
6. Find out information about the school: I have done so many of these interviews and one question that always causes a problem is can you tell me why you want to come to this school. Usually it is because Mum and Dad said so, but we don’t want to hear that answer! We want to hear how amazing our school is! So find out some facts and use these when they ask this question. yo can look on the internet and find out about subjects, sports or facilities that are good and use those.
7. Make a list of your achievements and qualities. Being positive about themselves with adults is so hard for children to do, maybe its teacher or parents not mentioning them enough. However you are all amazing, so if you have been on the swimming team, play an instrument, won a competition, are good at art, can debate then write them all down. The interviewers want to know these things about you and it helps you stand out in an interview.
8. Leave earlier than you plan. You want to get there on time as being late is a horrible way to start your interview.
9. Think about how to answer the ”tough” questions. These might be about weaknesses, or how to deal with conflict or a problem. You can check out youtube to get some ideas on how to answer these questions.

How to Introduce Yourself in English.

In can seem overwhelming to prepare for a secondary school interview, however the following article will break them down piece by piece to make you as confident as possible.

How to Introduce Yourself in a Secondary School Interview?

We have a much larger article on this that we have linked to above, but the key points we have listed for you below. this is your chance to impress them so try to put the following topics in your introduction.

In Secondary school interviews they will be looking for some confidence and achievements. So if you have ever helped teachers or been a reading buddy or anything like that, make sure you mentioned it if not in the introduction then in the interview somewhere. When you prepare for a secondary school interview you should start with your introduction.

• Information about you like your name and age
• What school you go to
• What your favorite subjects are
• What you like to do after school
• Information about your family.
• What your hobbies are
• Any achievements you have

Although practicing an introduction is important try not to memorize it like a speech. It is very easy for teachers to hear this. Try to sound as natural as possible. As we say in the article above you Never get a Second Chance to make a first impression.

What Questions Do they Ask in a Secondary School Interview?

Secondary School Interviews aim to test students’ ability to introduce themselves and to discover any achievements and qualities not on the application.  Secondary school interviews are likely to include topical, reasoning and critical thinking questions to assess students development in these areas.

However, this is a huge question and we will be writing a separate article on this as well. How ever we will offer Some of the more common questions they ask in secondary school interviews below and link to a file ( you can downloads and print) so you can practice them as well.

Under these top ten questions in Secondary school Interviews you can find the download. When you prepare for a secondary school interview looking at common questions is going to make you much mroe confident when the actual interview time comes.

Top Ten Questions in Secondary School Interviews and Example Answers.

Interview Question	Example Answer Ideas
Can you Introduce yourself	Keep This short and sweet. A little about you and your life. What you enjoy doing and some outside of school activities. You can also mention why you like the school you are applying for as well.
What are your strengths?	This is what i call buzzword bingo! You can tell them how great a communicator you are, how you tackle problems head on and in with a creative approach, how you are helpful in school with classmates and teacher. However, these may be buzzwords but have examples to talk about as well. Anyone can say they are amazing, but they may ask you to prove it as well!!
What are your weaknesses?	I really dislike this question, its outdated and in my opinion a waste of time. However it is still asked. Whatever element you chose to highlight as a potential weakness the aim is to turn it round into something you are working on and getting better at. For example: “I have in the past found that I sometimes am not 100% participating in class, however i recognise this and have set myself some tasks to build my confidence and interact more. “
What do you like to do when you are not in school?	Don’t blurt out that you love playing PUBG or whatever. With this question choose something that has elements of community, creativity or physicality. If you help out or are a scout or guide etc, or if you play a sport or instrument here is the time to mention it.
What is your favourite subject?	Easiest question you will get in a secondary school Interview. Whatever your subject is fine, unless you are on for a maths scholarship or something! Just, very important, make sure you have 2 or three reasons on why that subject is your favourite.
What subject do you not enjoy.	Another question i dislike and will almost certainly be asked. Answer it the same way as your weakness one, make sure you say you are working to improve and find new ways to motivate you as the subject is important etc.
What is your favourite thing about your school.	You can highlight something about your current school and explain how it helped you. Could be a room, resource or teacher. However make sure to mention something good about the school you are interviewing at as well, and that you can have similar here in your new school.
What are you looking forward to if you come to our school?	your interviewers want to know how much you have researched their school. So make sure you have done so. ( see our notes above!) Have one or two things you like about the new school and mentioned them here.
What will you bring to our school?	THis may be worded a few ways but they all are asking the same thing. What kind of student are you how will you help the school, and what can you tell us to prove that. If you have been a prefect, a reading buddy, a Sport team member or anything similar mention it here!
Why did you choose our school.	THis is your chance to show why this school is a good fit for you. So if they have a robots program and you like that , say it, if they have a school band say it, if you play basketball and they have a team say it! You get the idea 😉

100 Questions for Seconary School Interview.

Here you can download our PDF Questions and Tips and Advice for Secondary school interviews.

There are hundreds of possible questions that can help you prepare for a secondary school interview . The download above has about 80 of them and these have been directly collected from interview questions from real schools all over the world.

How to Stand Out In a Secondary School Interview?

One things students and parents don’t often think about is just how many students the teacher doing the secondary school interviews will actually see in the course of one day of interviews! It can be over 50 students depending how long the interviews last.

This is a huge number, especially as there will be fairly generic and similar question to ask each student. So finding a way to stand out from the crowd is not only helpful it can be vital!

We have a few ideas below to help you stand out in your secondary school interview.

• Have confidence: The biggest memory jogger for me are confident students who walks in shakes out hands and sits making eye contact and smiling. It sounds simple but nerves get the better of so many students and they withdraw into their shell.
• Have a cool hobby or pastime. Now you can’t make your hobby up, but whatever you like to do you can think of a story that is memorable and tell them that.
• Teachers remember good students (and the joke continues that we remember the bad ones as well!) Although not entirely true, it it easier to remember students who are helpful. So if you have helped in your current school make sure to highlight it in your interview.
• If you volunteer or help out it helps. If you help out in your community or have taken part in charity work or anything similar then bring this up. It is something we will remember.
• Have a question to ask the interviewers. This is so rare it will surprise them! However it shows you have an interest in the school, and as i always say an interview is not one way. In my interviews i am checking it is a place i want to work as well!!
• Thank them for their time at the end of the interview. Often students are so relieved that the interview is over that they forget to do this and just run for the door! If you remember it shows calmness and politeness.
• If you have won any awards or competitions then you can mention them, maybe in your introduction, or if they ask about your hobbies or likes.

How to Make a Good Impression In a Secondary School Interview?

Although you might think this is the same as standing out in a secondary school interview there are some difference. Making a good impression is those first few moments, and your on going behaviour during the interview. So sorry, but here is another list. You can do the following to help you prepare for a secondary school interview and make you stand out from the crowd.

• Dress Formally or at least smart casual.
• Make sure your clothes are clean and ironed
• Don’t over do it with the body sprays or perfumes. You will be in a small room
• Shake hands when you walk in.
• Wait to be asked to sit down
• When you do sit down do sit upright with your legs close together (it’s not the couch)
• Take a few seconds to answer the questions, it shows thought and you can replay the question in your head.
• Don’t use slang, this is a formal situation.
• Thank them for their time at the end.

8 Things to Not to Do in a Secondary School Interview?

We will try to stay away from the obvious of feet on the table and high fiving the teachers but will explain a few things that can be avoided.

1. Be late: Its the first time you meet you and you walk in late. Its the worst impression you can give, don’t do it!
2. Don’t give one word answers to questions: Important in every interview but make sure you give a few sentences in your answers, not just a one word yes, or no!
3. Don’t forget your manners: If they offer you a seat say thank you, thank them for their time, wait for your turn to speak. Nerves can make you forget to do these things!
4. Speak Negatively about your current school or teachers: No one likes to listening to people moan. So even if you really dislike your primary school, they don’t need to know that. Find one or two positives and use those instead.
5. Move around and look nervous: Try to sit still. ( not statue still, this is not Squid game) but don’t be moving or wriggling in your seat, and try not to play with pens or paper as it shows nerves or boredom.
6. Have poor body language: Sit up, sit straight. Try not to learn back to far and look to relaxed. It is good to look confident, it is not good to look disinterested or bored.
7. Use slang or bad language: Its a secondary school interview, not a chat with your friends. use appropriate language for the situation.
8. Not Do research on the school: as we mentioned in the stand out in an interview section above teachers will see a lot of students on interview days, a great way to stand out is to know a little about the school AND why you are applying there!

How to Prepare Your Child for A Kindergarten Interview

What Questions Can You Ask in a Secondary School Interview.

The interview is nearly over, one more question is coming. It sounds so simple, but so many students just say no as the answer ( as they want to get out of there!)

The question is ”do you have any questions for us”

We understand why the answer is no so often! To say yes makes the interview longer. However it also shows you have enthusiasm and interest in join the school. So we suggest asking at least one question. We have a few ideas you can use below.

1. What extracurricular activities do you have at school?
2. Do you have field trips in your subjects?
3. I am quite good at __________ how do i try out for the team?
4. I like to volunteer are there any opportunities at your school?
5. if i am successful is there anything i can do to prepare before i come to your school?
6. When will you let me know the result of the interview
7. Do you need anymore information from me?
8. Do you have any final questions?
9. How will you let me know the results of the interview?
10. Do you have any advice for new students coming to your school?
11. Can you tell me more about (something you have researched about the school)
12. What qualities do you like to see in your students.

If you really REALLY, can’t think of a question then you can use this example ( i have done on occasions in interviews and if it’s good enough for a teacher it should be good enough for a student)

I cant think of anything at the moment, but if something comes to me later is it ok to email a question to you?

Marc Ford

Final Thoughts

Interviews are stressful by nature. They can feel like a 30 minute long one on one test. Secondary school Interviews are no different, in fact they can be more stressful because students at this age don’t have the experience of the processes involved.

To properly prepare for a secondary school interview a few steps are needed before the date rolls around. If you can practice some common questions, take time to think of your achievements and qualities, try out some mock interviews with your teachers or parents then you will already be way ahead of most of the other students who have secondary school interviews.

Remember to answer the questions in full sentences, be polite, and to let them know how good a student you can be(with examples) and you will do just fine.

It’s always scary the first time, after that they get easier and easier. Even if you don’t think this, you just have to get through these interviews and your next ones won’t be for another 6 years, when you start planning for college and university!

Other Advice

Question Answers – Friends Central School

Questions: Indeed.