Interview seasons – Get ready now!

 

If your child is going into year 6 and you are applying to UK selective schools, you will be heading into interview season! Remember these stages:

1: Create your timetable. The first step is going to be taking the ISEB Pre-test (Winchester, Eton, Westminster, St Paul’s, Tonbridge) and you need to be ready for this. Try the mock tests on www.pre-quest.com.

2: Think about the different interview styles you might encounter. Will they be group interviews (Wycombe, Downe House, Wellington), individual sessions + testing (St Paul’s, Eton) or even academic interviews (Westminster, Winchester). Talk to your child about what to expect.

3: AVOID memorising answers! Schools hate this… INSTEAD… start discussions with your child about their interests and try to encourage them to develop their answers.

4: Choose a book, reading it together and discuss ideas.

5: Look for experiences which will develop your child’s interests: visit a museum or gallery, talk about ideas.

6: Look through the schools’ websites together and encourage your child to talk about what they would like to try.

Interviews can be a positive experience if you are relaxed and schools really do try to encourage your child to share their interests. Above all, don’t panic; there really is a school for every child.