Trainee primary teachers seeking their first job are invited to apply to be part of the Derby Early Career Teachers (ECT) 'Pool'. Schools looking to appoint ECTs will approach successful pool candidates directly to consider their vacancy and fast track them to final interviews with the school.

Step 1 - Book your interview

Interviews are being held on Wednesday 5th March 2025, between 9am and 5pm. They will last up to 30 minutes and time slots are allocated on a first come, first served basis. Interviews will take place online and candidates from all ITT providers are welcome to apply.

Step 2 - Start your application

When booking your interview you will also be invited to start the application process. This can be completed in stages, but must be submitted no later than Wednesday 26th February 2025. Once you have started your form you will be emailed a link which will allow you to revisit and make edits at any time.

The information you give in your application will be shared with the interview panel. You will be asked to provide:

  • Personal contact information
  • Education and employment history
  • Teacher training and placement details
  • Personal statement
  • 2 references

Step 3 - Interview day!

Before you go into your interview you'll be greeted by a member of the SDSA team who will provide a quick briefing about what to expect. Following this you'll be interviewed by a panel of current Derby City Headteachers and Senior Leaders. Interviews will last up to 30 minutes and cover introductory topics that discuss general approaches to teaching.

The purpose of the process is to identify candidates who show potential to become high quality teachers, well suited to Derby schools, who the interviewers would happily recommend to their headteacher colleagues. Being on the pool list is not a guarantee of a job, but it fast tracks you into the view of all Derby headteachers who are looking to recruit ECTs.

What happens next?

Decisions and feedback are communicated to candidates no later than 48 hours after the interview has taken place. If you are successful, your details will be added to the ECT Pool and made available to all Derby Headteachers. Headteachers will be able to view the information that you submitted in your application form, plus successful candidates will also be invited to updated a short introductory film.

If you are unsuccessful, your details won't appear on the pool and headteachers won't know you've been involved. The details of unsuccessful candidates do not appear on the pool, and headteachers won't be informed about who these were. We don’t want one disappointing interview experience to jeopardise the beginning of a teacher’s career! Both successful and unsuccessful candidates are encouraged to still apply for other Derby recruitment opportunities as not every vacancy will be recruited via the pool.

How do schools use the pool?

All Derby headteachers will have access to a secure website where details of successful candiates are stored. Whenever a school has a vacancy for a Early Career Teacher (ECT) they will review the pool of candidates and draw up a shortlist of who they would like to invite to consider their vacancy. The headteacher will get directly in touch via email to introduce themselves, provide details about the school and invite the candiate to consider their vacancy.

From here the process will be managed by the school, who will follow their own safe recruitment proceedures. There is a strong likelihood you wiil be invited for a second formal interview with the school, which will usually include an opportunity to demonstrate your teaching skills. The pool is updated regularly throughout the recruitment period and your information will be removed once you have been successful in securing a teaching position.