Interviews for the Autumn 2022 intake of the Professional Master of Education (PME) are underway. All applicants who have been deemed to have met the entry requirements, submitted a fully completed application form with supporting documentation or have confirmed their final results are pending and paid the application fee will be invited to interview. If you are considering applying for the PME, start your application today. The closing date is 21 June. We include a breakdown of each PME interview below.
PME in Primary Interview
The PME in Primary interview consists of a 20-minute general component in English and approximately 10 minutes of an Irish oral component. Applicants can choose whether they begin with the general or the Irish component. Your interview panel will consist of two interviewers, both of whom are experienced teachers.
In the general interview component, you will be asked about your PME application. The interview questions and topics are varied, with the aim being to give you the opportunity to demonstrate your communication skills, motivation, interpersonal skills, organisation and planning, preparation and professionalism and your suitability to teach. Some questions may also refer to your personal statement. The interviewer will probe the candidate’s ability to demonstrate excellent oral language skills and to go beyond pre-prepared content. You will need to have fully researched Hibernia College and the PME in Primary Education.
We advise against focusing on specific questions that could arise as this can lead you to being ill-prepared for the interview should these questions not be asked. Rather, we advise that you prepare by considering how you might demonstrate the above skills and think of examples of situations where you have done so in the past. Also, ensure to listen to the question(s) being asked of you on the day.
The Irish oral component is a 10-minute dialogue that assesses your use of tense and grammar, your vocabulary and verb usage and your general level of comfort speaking the language. You will be asked questions about a variety of topics such as your interests, why you want to be a primary school teacher, your undergraduate degree, the Irish language and how you prepared for the interview.
PME in Post-Primary Interview
During the interview, you will be assessed on your motivation and suitability to teach, your subject knowledge, your preparation and your teaching competencies. You will need to have fully researched Hibernia College and the PME in Post-Primary Education.
The PME in Post-Primary interview is approximately 30 minutes in length. At the start of the interview, you’ll be asked to present on a topic of interest from the Junior or Senior Cycle curriculum. The presentation must be a minimum of two minutes and a maximum of three minutes in length. The topic must be related to your first subject choice. If one of your subject choices is a language, part of the interview will take place in that language. You can visit Curriculum online to review Junior and Senior Cycle curricula and prepare your topic presentation in advance.
The interview is your opportunity to show that you possess the skills, interest and enthusiasm for your chosen subject(s) and the teaching profession. You should demonstrate that you have investigated both of your subjects, where you have chosen two subjects, and have given thought to teaching at different levels to different class groups. Provide evidence of your effective planning, responsiveness, interpersonal and reflective skills, along with other teaching competencies.
Learn More in a Webinar
Learn more about the PME interview and what you can do to prepare at one of our upcoming webinars. Our Enrolment Advisors will host one final PME webinar up until the PME application closing date of 21 June. This final webinar will take place 8 June at 1:00 p.m. Register your attendance at the webinar here. We look forward to helping with your queries about the interview.