September 01, 2025

Prepare & Ace Your Nursery Practitioner Interview

Introduction

Stepping into the interview for a Nursery Practitioner (or Early Years Practitioner) role is your chance to showcase your passion, professionalism, and child-centred practice. This guide is your blueprint for thorough preparation, tailored to the responsibilities and expectations of practitioners in UK early years settings.

Understand the Role—Beyond Daily Duties

Child development & observation: Explain how you make precise observations, track developmental progress, and plan next steps in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
Environment & routines: Talk about creating safe, stimulating spaces and your strategies for smooth, child-led transitions.
Safeguarding basics: Understand your responsibility to raise concerns, know procedure, and who your whistleblowing or safeguarding leads are.
Team support & communication: Discuss how you collaborate with your peers, engage with parents, and stay aligned with room leaders or managers.

Showcase EYFS Knowledge

The EYFS framework underpins practitioner work. Be prepared to:

Describe how you carry out meaningful observations and planning cycles.
Explain how you incorporate SEND strategies to support children's individual learning needs.
Demonstrate how you balance structured learning with child-led, play-based activities.

Show You’re Safeguarding-Savvy

While you aren’t the DSL, you play a vital role in safeguarding. Be ready to discuss:

Spotting signs of concern and how you report them.
Your familiarity with the setting’s policies and how you use them—e.g., accident logs, risk assessments, and incident record keeping.
How to embed safeguarding into everyday routines and play.

Demonstrate Understanding with Ofsted & Quality Awareness

Even practitioners should be inspection-ready. Prepare to:

Discuss how you support the setting’s readiness for inspection, perhaps through documentation or displaying children’s learning.
Highlight how you contribute to children’s engagement, behaviour, and enjoyment—all key elements that Ofsted inspects.
Share your role in planning or implementing improvements suggested by audits or observations.

Reflect on Scenario-Based Questions

Using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) will help structure your answers clearly. Prepare for scenarios like:

A child refuses to join the group activity—how do you bring them in sensitively?
You notice a sudden change in a child’s behaviour—what steps do you take?
A parent shares concerns about naughty behaviour you didn’t witness—how do you respond professionally?

Prepare Thoughtful Questions to Ask

Show your proactive mindset with questions like:

“How do Practitioners engage with professional development or CPD opportunities?”
“What support is in place for practitioner wellbeing and peer mentoring?”
“How does the setting support practitioners in implementing SEND or behaviour planning?”

Final Preparations Checklist

Know the nursery: Review their ethos, values, latest Ofsted report or self-evaluation.
Plan and practise: Prepare STAR-based examples, tailor them to Practitioner-level experiences.
Appearance & materials: Dress professionally, bring your CV, certificates, ID, and any practitioner portfolio or observation snapshots.
Mindset: Be punctual, calm, and follow up with a thank-you email that reiterates your enthusiasm and fit.

Why This Works for Practitioners

Practitioner-specific insights: Focuses on the day-to-day of early years practice, rather than management responsibilities.
Safety and compliance: Emphasises safeguarding and inspection awareness—critical elements even at practitioner level.
Reflects early years realities: Values interactions, environment, and child-centred planning over administrative tasks.
STAR approach keeps answers concise: Enables you to share precise, reflective responses without rambling.

STAR Format Example

Situation: “A toddler was hesitant to join circle time and instead wandered off.”
Task: “I wanted to include them meaningfully without singling them out or increasing their anxiety.”
Action: “I sat near them, gently modeled the activity, and invited them back to sit on my lap initially, offering a familiar toy as comfort.”
Result: “Within a few minutes, they joined the group comfortably and began interacting with peers. By the end of the week, they regularly attended circle time and even led a song.”

Final Encouragement

Your dedication, nurturing approach, and professional awareness make you more than just ready—you’re positioned to thrive. Walk in knowing you bring warmth, skill, and clarity to the table—and that the children will be all the better for it.

Best of luck—you are going to do brilliantly!

Looking for more advice or want to explore Nursery Practitioners Opportunties? Take a look at our jobs page or get in touch to discuss further.