A nursery interview is rarely won on qualifications. Most candidates in the room hold the same Level 3, and the manager has already seen it on your CV. What they are deciding is narrower and harder to fake: can you hold a room, will parents trust you, and will you still be here in a year.
This guide covers fifteen questions that come up in early years interviews, what the manager is really testing with each, and how to answer. It is written for nursery practitioners, nursery nurses, early years educators and room leaders applying in London and the South East.
Safeguarding questions get their own treatment, because they are the block that most often decides the outcome. Those are covered separately in our safeguarding interview questions guide.
What a nursery manager is actually assessing
Behind every question there are four judgements:
- Can you hold a room? Ratios are a legal requirement. A practitioner who needs constant supervision costs the manager more than an empty post.
- Do you know the EYFS in practice, not just in theory? Anyone can name the areas of learning. Fewer can describe what they changed after an observation.
- Will parents trust you? The key person relationship is the product a nursery sells. A practitioner who cannot handle a difficult handover creates work for the manager every week.
- Will you stay? Turnover is the sector’s biggest operational problem. Every manager is listening for whether this is a stop-gap.
Fifteen nursery practitioner interview questions, with answers
Use these for structure, not as a script. Managers can tell. Bring your own examples, and name real children’s ages and real activities rather than speaking in generalities.
1. Tell me about your experience with the EYFS.
Why they ask: An opener that sorts people fast. Weak candidates list the seven areas. Strong ones describe using it.
How to answer: Move quickly past the structure and into one worked example of observation changing your practice.
Model answer: I work with the seven areas, but day to day it is mostly the prime areas with my age group. The part I use most is the observation and planning cycle. Last term I noticed one of my two-year-olds was avoiding the mark-making table entirely but spent long stretches at the water tray. Rather than pushing him towards the pens, I put chunky brushes and water on the fence outside. Within a fortnight he was making deliberate marks, and he moved onto the table himself.
2. What does the key person role mean to you?
Why they ask: A statutory requirement under the EYFS that many candidates treat as a paperwork task.
How to answer: Describe it as a relationship with a child and a family, with specific duties attached.
Model answer: It means a named child knows that I am their person in the room, and so do their parents. Practically that is settling them in, knowing their routines and what comforts them, tracking their development and being the one who raises a concern. For parents it means one consistent person who can tell them something specific about their day rather than a general report. When I am off, I make sure my buddy knows where each of my children is up to.
3. How do you settle a child who is distressed at drop-off?
Why they ask: Every setting has this daily. They want calm competence, not a textbook.
How to answer: Child first, parent second, record third. Avoid anything that sounds like distracting the parent out of the door.
Model answer: I get down to the child’s level and take them, so the parent can leave rather than hovering, because a long goodbye usually makes it worse. I would not pretend the parent has not gone, I would name it, something like “Mummy has gone to work and she is coming back after tea.” Then I move them to something physical and absorbing rather than sitting with the feeling. I message the parent once the child has settled, because the parent is often more upset than the child by then.
4. A two-year-old bites another child. What do you do?
Why they ask: Biting is the most common behaviour question in early years and the most commonly fumbled.
How to answer: Attend to the bitten child first, respond without shaming, record, inform both sets of parents per policy.
Model answer: I go to the child who was bitten first, comfort them and check the skin. Then I speak to the child who bit, briefly and at their level, something like “I will not let you bite, biting hurts.” I would not make them say sorry on command because at two it is meaningless. Afterwards I think about the trigger, because biting at that age is usually frustration or communication rather than aggression, and often it is the same time of day or the same crowded space. I complete an incident record and the manager informs both families following our policy.
5. How do you work with a child who has delayed speech?
Why they ask: Tests whether you escalate appropriately and whether you know the SENCO exists.
How to answer: Describe practical strategies plus the referral route. Do not diagnose.
Model answer: In the room I would narrate what we are doing, give long pauses so they have space to respond, model back rather than correct, and cut down closed questions. I would use visuals and signing if the setting uses them. Alongside that I would log observations over several weeks rather than acting on one impression, share it with the SENCO and the parents together, and if a referral to speech and language was needed, the SENCO would lead that. Parents usually know already, so the conversation is rarely a shock if it is handled honestly.
6. A parent complains that their child came home with a scratch nobody told them about.
Why they ask: A judgement question. They are testing whether you get defensive.
How to answer: Acknowledge, do not blame a colleague, explain the system, follow up.
Model answer: I would apologise for the fact they found out at home rather than from us, because that is the actual complaint. I would not make excuses or blame whoever was on shift. I would check the accident record, find out what happened and come back to them the same day with a straight answer. Then I would raise it internally, because if an accident form was not completed or was not handed over at collection, that is a process problem rather than one person’s mistake.
7. How do you plan activities for your room?
Why they ask: Checking whether planning is driven by children or by a template.
How to answer: Start from observation and interest, mention flexibility and the adult role.
Model answer: Planning comes from what I am seeing rather than a theme I picked in advance. If three children are lining up objects and counting, I will put more of that out and extend it. I plan in pencil, because a group of two-year-olds will often take an activity somewhere I did not predict and that is usually better than my plan. I also think about where I will position myself, since the adult is part of the provision, not just a supervisor of it.
8. What would you do if you disagreed with how a colleague spoke to a child?
Why they ask: Professional courage, without turning it into a safeguarding question.
How to answer: Distinguish a style difference from a concern, and know where the line is.
Model answer: If it was a one-off and more about tone than content, I would raise it with them directly and privately, something like “I noticed earlier, is everything alright?” because people have bad days. If it was a pattern, or if it was belittling or shaming a child, I would take it to the manager, because at that point it stops being a style difference. I would not let it go because the person was more senior than me.
9. How do you support a child’s transition into the next room?
Why they ask: A practical operational question, and a common weak spot.
How to answer: Gradual, information-rich, parent-included.
Model answer: Transitions work best slowly. Short visits first, ideally with their key person, building up to a full session. I would pass on real detail to the new key person rather than just the paperwork, how they self-settle, what they will not eat, which child they always sit next to. I would keep parents in it throughout, because a confident parent produces a confident child. And I would expect some regression for a couple of weeks and plan for it rather than treating it as a problem.
10. Tell me about a time you worked with a difficult parent.
Why they ask: Testing emotional regulation and whether you talk about families respectfully.
How to answer: Reframe the premise. Avoid language that makes parents sound like the enemy.
Model answer: I would not usually describe a parent as difficult, because the ones who seem demanding are nearly always anxious. I had a mum who questioned every mark on her daughter and emailed most days. Rather than treating it as a complaint I started sending her a short, specific message at lunchtime, not a report, just one thing her daughter had done. The emails stopped within about two weeks. She did not need less contact, she needed better contact.
11. How do you keep children safe during outdoor play?
Why they ask: Risk management without wrapping children in cotton wool.
How to answer: Talk about risk-benefit rather than risk elimination.
Model answer: I check the area before the children come out, gates, surfaces, anything that has blown in. During the session I position myself where I can see the most rather than standing with another adult. But I am not trying to remove all risk, because children learn to judge height and speed by climbing and running. I would rather supervise a child climbing properly than ban climbing and have them do it unsupervised. Head counts on the way out and on the way back in, every time.
12. What would you do in your first week here?
Why they ask: Checking humility and whether you understand the setting is already running.
How to answer: Learn before changing. Name the practical things.
Model answer: Mostly learn. Names first, children and staff. Then routines, because every setting runs its day slightly differently and the fastest way to be useful is to stop being the person who has to ask. I would find out who the SENCO and the designated safeguarding lead are, read the policies rather than skim them, and ask my room leader what they actually need from me. I would not arrive with ideas about changing things in week one.
13. How do you handle the paperwork alongside being on the floor?
Why they ask: Realistic operational question. Managers know this is where people sink.
How to answer: Be honest, show a system, and put children first without dismissing records.
Model answer: I do observations in short bursts as they happen rather than trying to recall a week on a Friday, because the detail is gone by then. I use my breaks and any off-floor time the setting gives for writing up rather than leaving it to do at home. If I am genuinely choosing between a child who needs me and a form, the child wins and I catch the form up. But I do not let that become a habit, because records that are always late stop being useful to anybody.
14. Why do you want to work here specifically?
Why they ask: Testing whether you have done any preparation. Most candidates fail this.
How to answer: Name something real about the setting. Generic answers are worse than none.
Model answer: I looked at your last inspection report and at how you describe your outdoor provision, and the forest sessions were the part that interested me most, because my current setting has very little outdoor space and it limits what I can do. I also noticed from your website that several of your staff have been here a long time, which usually tells you something about how a nursery is run.
15. Where do you see yourself in three years?
Why they ask: They are asking about turnover. Be honest without sounding like you are passing through.
How to answer: Show ambition inside early years rather than beyond it.
Model answer: Still in early years. I would like to be a room leader, and I would want to get there by being good enough at the job that it is obvious rather than by waiting for a vacancy. Longer term I am interested in the SENCO side, because the children I have found most rewarding have been the ones who needed something worked out for them specifically. I am not looking for a stepping stone out of the sector.
What sinks otherwise strong candidates
- Talking about children in general. “I love working with children” tells a manager nothing. One specific child and what you did for them is worth ten sentences of warmth.
- Not knowing the setting. Read the inspection report. It takes ten minutes and almost nobody does it.
- Running down a current employer. Even when it is deserved, the manager hears what you will say about them.
- No questions at the end. It reads as indifference. Have three.
- Vagueness on safeguarding. This is the one area where a weak answer ends it, whatever else you did well.
Questions worth asking them
- What does a typical day look like in the room I would be in?
- How many children would I key-person, and how is that decided?
- What off-floor time do practitioners get for observations and planning?
- How long have most of the team been here?
- What would a good first three months look like to you?
If you are still weighing up which route into the sector suits you, our guide to teaching assistant qualifications sets out what is actually required — and what is not.
Interview coming up?
Quint Education places nursery practitioners across London. Register once and we will match you to settings that suit your experience — and tell you what each one actually asks at interview.
Frequently asked questions
What should I wear to a nursery interview?
Smart but practical. You may be asked to spend time in a room as part of the process, so clothes you can sit on the floor in. Avoid anything with long nails, loose jewellery or a lanyard that a child could pull.
Will I have to do a trial shift?
Very often, yes. Many settings run a paid or unpaid taster session after the formal interview, because how you are with children tells them more than answers do. Treat it as the real interview.
What questions are always asked in an early years interview?
Safeguarding comes up in almost every one. Beyond that, expect the key person role, how you would settle a distressed child, how you use observation to plan, and a behaviour scenario such as biting or hitting.
Do I need a Level 3 to be a nursery practitioner?
Not always. Settings employ unqualified and Level 2 practitioners, though Level 3 counts towards staff ratios differently and opens more roles. Many nurseries will support you through the qualification while you work.
How do I answer if I have no paid nursery experience?
Use what you have, placements, voluntary work, or caring for family, and be specific about what you observed rather than claiming experience you do not have. Managers hire attitude at entry level; they can teach the rest.
Looking for a practitioner role in London?
Quint Education places early years staff across London every week, on temporary, permanent and bank contracts. We interview every candidate ourselves, so when we put you forward we can tell the setting why you suit their room. See current nursery practitioner jobs in London, browse all early years vacancies, or read our safeguarding interview questions guide before your next interview.