Help ... Foundation Degree Interview

[Guest]

Am hoping someone could help me abit, I have an interview on Friday for the foundation degree, they said there would be tests and group work involved, to try and make myself feel better I Asked a friend who is now doing her PGCE at the same uni aout her interview and now i am FREAKED out LOL.

I don't want to come across an air head here (I already have a degree in another subject) but she said they had to talk about sats and KS1 in addition to the EYFS and ECM.... I know nothing about KS1 and I only found out about the interview today so its not leaving me much time to find out, She alse said the numercy tests required her to work out the circumfrance of circles and the area of triangles (OMG what? its been 15 years since i did that stuff) and her english test she had to write an essay on whether sats should be abolished (aaah what if i get that question i'm going to have a blank page lol)

 

So I am really really hoping some of you wouldn't mind sharing with me your foundation degreee interview experiences?

[HappyMaz]

Firstly, I wouldn't panic. On your application you will have provided information about your experience and they will therefore know that you are not a Key Stage One person. So they won't be asking you to talk about something you don't know much about. I imagine there will be a group discussion of some kind, but this will probably be about subject you know about, and would probably be designed to find out how you contribute to the discussion and include others rather than demonstrating your knowledge.

 

The literacy and numeracy tests will be to identify the level your skills are at in order to identify any support you might need - if the Foundation Degree is the beginning of the pathway to EYPS then you'll need Maths GCSE level C or the equivalent and they'll need to know which learners will need support to gain this qualification. My advice re the maths is just to answer what you can and make an attempt at what you think you can't - you might surprise yourself! I very much doubt they will ask you to write an essay on something you don't know about - that is rather defeating the object of the exercise which is to assess your writing style.

 

I can well understand how anxious you are - interviews are by their nature stressful times and that you are concerned about what you might be asked to do doesn't mean you're an airhead at all. It just proves that you are motivated to do well - a good sign for someone about to embark on a period of intensive study.

 

hali and I were the first ones to do the Foundation Degree at our college and to be honest it was just a case of having a short interview based on our experiences and philosophies. I'm not even sure we were given a written task to do - but hali's memory may well be better than mine!

 

Good luck!

 

Maz

[Guest]

Golly, had I had all that to do I am not sure I would have got on the FD course!!

 

I didn't have an interview........

 

I don't think they did them for anyone.

 

Well anyway good luck!!

[SueJ]

For my FD interview we had to do a presentation and then a quick Q&A session. We were given a selection of about three topics and had to pick one. I can't now remember what all the topics were but I have a feeling that I did my presentation of equal opportunities within the early years.

 

After the presentation we then had a more personal type interview along the lines of why you believed you should be doing the EYPS (because I need to isn't a good answer by the way).

 

As far as maths and english were concerned you had to prove that you had the relevant level qualifications before you even got to interview level.

[Guest]

Isn't it odd how we've all had different experiences!

 

I did a written application where I listed previous qualifications and experience and had to say why I wanted to do the FD and why I thought I was suitable, followed by a one-to-one (more of a chat than an interview) with the course leader. I took my folder of evidence as a Network childminder which supported what I'd said on my application.

 

Lastly I had functional skills tests (computer based) for maths and english, about 40 minutes each. Multiple choice, testing grammar and spelling for English and basics for maths (only a few scary equations, honest!)

 

I'm sure youll be fine! Good Luck and let us know how you get on.

 

Nona

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for all your advice, think I have just gone into panicmode abit lol

[Guest]

Just wanted to thank you all for your help :-)

I got accepted to 2 uni's for my foundation degree and got my funding from the council :-)