Private school interview questions: What to expect and how to prepare

The interview is the part of the senior school admissions process many parents underestimate. Children spend months on practice papers, then turn up to a 15 to 20 minute conversation with a senior teacher that often carries real weight in the offer decision.

This guide covers what schools look for, eighteen example questions across the four main types they ask, and a short preparation plan. Most of it is about helping a 10 or 11 year old learn to talk about themselves without freezing.

Schools interview because exams only tell them so much. A child who scores in the top decile on the ISEB Pre-Test could still be a poor fit for a small, discussion-led classroom. Equally, a borderline pass on paper might come across as curious in person, and that can tip a decision the other way.

Most senior schools say openly they're looking for three things in a 10 or 11 year old: genuine interest in something (academic or otherwise), the ability to hold a two-way conversation, and a sense that the child will contribute to school life rather than just attend it. None of that requires polish. It requires a child who has thought about what they like and why.

Most senior school interviews at 11+ or 13+ last 15 to 25 minutes and are one-to-one with a senior teacher or head of admissions. A few schools run group exercises alongside, where four or five candidates discuss a topic together while staff observe. Boarding schools sometimes split the interview into an academic conversation and a pastoral one.

The interviewer isn't trying to trip your child up. The format is conversational, but they'll be making notes on how your child thinks aloud, handles a question they haven't heard before, and engages back when given the chance to ask their own questions.

Some schools supplement the interview with a short written task, discussion exercise or pre-reading. Check each school's admissions page directly, since the specifics vary year to year.

These questions test whether your child has opinions about what they're learning, not whether they can recite a syllabus. The interviewer wants evidence the child is intellectually engaged with at least one subject and can talk about a recent piece of learning in their own words.

"I like maths because it's my best subject" gives the interviewer nothing to work with. "I like maths because I worked out last term that the angles in any triangle add up to 180, and I tried to prove it on paper before my teacher showed us" gives them five minutes of conversation.

1. What's your favourite subject at school, and what did you do in your most recent lesson in it?

2. Is there a subject you find harder than the others? What do you do when you get stuck?

3. Tell me about a book you've read this year that you really enjoyed. What did you like about it?

4. If you could add a new subject to your school timetable, what would it be and why?

5. Can you teach me something you learned this week, as if I knew nothing about it?

These questions check whether your child has a sense of who they are outside the classroom. Schools care about this because boarding houses, sports teams, choirs and clubs all rely on children with genuine interests bringing energy to them. A child who can name three things they enjoy and say why tends to land much better than one who has been coached to say they love "learning".

The interviewer is not looking for prize-winning achievements. They are looking for a real interest that the child has stuck with, and ideally a story attached to it. "I built a Lego mosaic of the Mona Lisa over half-term and it took me four days" is far more memorable than "I got my purple belt in karate."

1. What do you enjoy doing in the evenings or at weekends when there's no homework?

2. What's the best thing you've ever made, built, or written?

3. Tell me about a time something didn't work the first time you tried it. What did you do?

4. Who would you say has had the biggest influence on you, and why?

5. If you could swap lives with someone for a day, who would it be and why?

Some schools (especially the academically selective London day schools and the larger boarding schools) will ask about a news story or a wider-world issue. This is rare at 11+ and more common at 13+, but it does come up, and parents are often caught off guard.

Your child doesn't need to follow Newsnight. Reading something age-appropriate once a week (First News, BBC Newsround, The Week Junior) and being able to summarise one story they found interesting is more than enough. The interviewer is testing whether the child notices the world beyond their classroom, not whether they can name the Foreign Secretary.

1. Have you read or heard about anything in the news recently that you've been thinking about?

2. If you were Prime Minister for a day, what's one thing you would change?

3. What do you think is the biggest problem facing children your age today?

4. Tell me about a place in the world you'd like to visit and what you'd want to see there.

These are the questions that worry parents most because there's no obvious right answer. The interviewer is not looking for one. They want to see how your child structures a response when they don't already know what to say.

The best preparation is to practise out loud. Sit at the kitchen table, ask your child a slightly silly question ("if you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?"), and let them ramble. The goal isn't a polished answer. It's getting comfortable thinking on their feet without panicking or going silent.

1. If you could invent a new bank holiday, what would it celebrate and how would people spend it?

2. Imagine you're stuck on a desert island and can choose three things to take with you. What do you pick and why?

3. If a younger pupil joined this school next term and felt nervous, what would you say to them?

4. If we offered you a place here, what's the first club or activity you'd sign up for, and what would you hope to get out of it?

Over-coaching is the most common mistake. Children arrive having memorised six "strengths" and three favourite books, and the second the interviewer asks something off-script, they stall.

A lighter approach works better. Over four to six weeks, spend 15 minutes a few evenings a week talking through example questions at the dinner table. Don't write answers down. Let your child practise giving a different version each time. The goal is comfort and flexibility, not a perfect line.

Alongside that, encourage two habits: read something every day (anything, including comics and kids' news magazines), and try one new thing they can talk about (a recipe, a model, a sport). Conversation needs material.

Almost every interview ends with "do you have any questions for me?" Saying "no" is a missed opportunity. A genuine, specific question shows the child has done some homework on the school and is treating the interview as a two-way conversation.

Avoid generic questions like "what's the school like?" The interviewer hears that twenty times a week. A good question is one your child wants the answer to, ideally tied to something specific from the school's website or open day.

Examples that tend to land well:

• "I saw on your website that you run a debating club. What kind of topics do they take on?"

• "If I joined in September, what would my first week look like?"

• "What's the best thing about working at this school?"

• "Are there opportunities to try things I've never done before, like fencing or pottery?"