Hello, Tappsters!
🥳 Exciting news! We have a BIG change in the app – you can now refer your friends to join Teacher Tapp 🤝
Inside the app, you’ll find your own referral code to share. When a friend signs up with your code and answers for two days, £5 gets donated to Education Support to help teacher wellbeing. You can trigger up to £25 in donations, and the total pot is £5,000 — so let’s hit it fast! The campaign runs until July 31st, 2025 (or until the donations run out). Ready to spread the word? Let’s go! 💪📱
Now, onto our edu-findings…
A HUGE 80% of you have been involved in the process of teacher recruitment in the last two years!
- 62% have been job hunting
- 35% put their applications in and then 35% went for interviews
- And 36% were involved on the other side of the desk and were interviewing candidates at their own schools
1. Teacher interview tasks
The actual content of an interview can be a source of anxiety beforehand – what will a teacher be asked to do?
91% of those applying for classroom teacher roles taught a lesson, compared to 72% of those applying for senior leadership roles and 14% of headteacher applicants.
19% of classroom teacher applicants took part in a student panel, compared to 43% of senior leaders and 67% of head teacher applicants.
The in-tray task where a person is asked to prioritise tasks was given to 13% of classroom teacher applicants, 58% of senior leader applicants and 70% of head teacher applicants.
What did you think their interviews SHOULD include?
As well as asking about what you did we also asked Teacher Tappers about what they believed interviews should include. And although for many of the tasks things lined up – there were a few mis-matches of what is happening, and what teachers think should happen.
Should headteachers teach a lesson?
Only 14% of headteachers were asked to teach a lesson on interview – but 64% say it should be part of the process. However – that sentiment is felt most strongly by classroom teachers (72%) whereas headteachers themselves are less likely to agree (27%).
Do we need more student panels?
Although only 19% of classroom teacher applicants faced a student panel, 40% thought it should be on the interview. Maybe something to consider adding if you don’t currently do it?
2. Internal Promotion
The job advert pops up in your inbox – a new role at your school! Going for an internal promotion might feel like the safe option, but is putting yourself out there in your workplace more terrifying because if you don’t get it, you have to carry on seeing those people who interviewed you every single day 😳.
34% of Tappers have applied for internal jobs in the last two years – and of those 24% were successful!
But how did it go when you didn’t get the role?
44% felt supported following their unsuccessful interview, 29% neutral and 27% unsupported (and 2% just couldn’t remember!).
Can we make the process of applying for internal promotions better?
We asked an open question about taking part in internal interviews, and a whopping 622 replied and your answers revealed a process that is fraught with tension.
Objections included feeling as if it was already predetermined, with one Tapper describing themselves as “interview meat” 😳.
Some of those who hadn’t been succesful at interview reported that they had NO feedback at all – “just an email saying I hadn’t got it”. That’s bad etiquette and not going to help anyone’s morale.
The words “embarrassment”, “exposed” and “soul destroying” came up repeatedly, and some cited the failure to secure an internal promotion as the trigger to them leaving. Even those who were successful referenced tensions now they were leading someone who was unsuccessful and now “angry and betrayed”.
So what can we learn from this? Based on these replies, leaders might want to think about:
Transparency: Be honest if a candidate is pre-selected. It’s better than causing resentment.
Fair Feedback: Clear, respectful, and actionable feedback is essential.
Process Equity: All internal candidates deserve consistent expectations, timelines, and communication.
Past Experience Counts: Don’t ignore what internal staff already do just because it wasn’t formally labeled.
3. Time to move jobs? Not so fast…
It’s that time of year when, if you were planning a change of scene for September, you’ve probably handed in your notice—and if you were hoping to land a new role, chances are you’ve either secured it or bowed out.
So, with our friends at School Dash, we’re sharing our end-of-recruitment-season update on just how many of you are moving jobs this year.
The headlines? Things are changing. Fast.
Secondary teacher job adverts are down 27% compared to 2018/19, and a whopping 36% down on last year.
Why the big drop? Two major forces: tight school budgets and a looming demographic dip. Together, they mean that for the first time in years, the total number of teachers in the profession is likely to start falling.
This isn’t just a system-level story because it matters for your career too. With fewer people moving around, it could become harder to find exciting opportunities for progression.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Lower turnover also means more stability with stronger staff teams, fewer timetable panics, and smoother leadership transitions. For heads and pupils alike, that’s likely to be a win.
All of this insight is made possible by the questions you’ve been answering in the app over the past few months, so thank you! And a big thank you as well to our funders, the Gatsby Foundation, for supporting this work.
You can read the full report here.
Or, if you’re the data-explorer type, dig into the interactive charts by region and subject over at School Dash.
4. That’s a good question!
Teacher Tapp turned the tables this week and asked YOU for your best questions!
So many interviews are full of your standard questions – but what are the really great questions to ask when you want to work out if the person in front of you is right for your school?
That’s exactly what we asked school leaders this week, and here are some gems that were shared:
“I always ask about how the candidate would deal with a child who falls over in the playground. Most people answer with the technical response (apply first aid, record in the accident book) — I want people to tell me they would give the child some TLC and look after them.”
“Why do you want this job at this school at this time, and where do you see yourself in 3 years?”
“This is an inclusive school. What do you understand the term ‘inclusive’ to mean and what does inclusive classroom practice look like?”
“Tell me about a lesson that didn’t go well. What did you learn?”
“What are the top three things you’ve noticed about our school today?”
Daily Reads
Last week our most popular blog was read by 8% of Teacher Tappers: What you need to know about fidgeting!
Have you seen a great blog you think would make a great daily read? Let us know by emailing england@teachertapp.co.uk and we will check it out!
