At this time of year, aspiring Deputy Heads are gearing up for application season. Nothing is quite like spotting a job that you think could be ‘the one’. You can picture yourself in role, the person spec seems to be ideally suited to you and you’re excited to apply. Things only get better when you have the validation of being called for interview. The school have seen something in your application that makes them think that you could be the right person for the job that you believe to be right for you. Beyond this point, there is the very real challenge of the interview day itself. You can never prepare fully for a Deputy Head interview: there are too many unknowns to be able to predict precise detail with any certainty. But, what you can do is be prepared for the types of tasks you will be faced with and what they might be looking for. In this blog, we dive into 3 commonly used tasks in Deputy Head interviews and consider what to expect and how to prepare.  

The data analysis task

Preparing for a data analysis task requires a balance of technical interpretation and strategic thinking. First, you should carefully review the data set and identify key patterns in attainment, progress, attendance, or behaviour. For example, disadvantaged pupils not achieving at a level in line with their peers. A crucial principle is to look for trends over time rather than relying on a single data point. Isolated anomalies can occur for many reasons, including natural fluctuations in cohort ability or small sample sizes. For example, a school might have 0% of SEND pupils meet the Expected standard at the end of Key stage 2 in Reading but their SEND cohort might only be two students, both of whom have EHCPs and severe learning difficulties. Demonstrating awareness of these nuanced details helps to show that your conclusions are measured and evidence-informed rather than reactive.

Strong candidates also prioritise diagnosis before solution. After identifying trends, you should consider what might be driving them: curriculum alignment, teaching consistency, assessment accuracy, or pupil group differences. Structuring observations clearly by identifying strengths, concerns, and crucially, possible causes, helps the panel follow your reasoning and shows that you are thorough in your approach, not wanting to dive straight in with a solution until you fully understand the problem.  

Equally important is moving from analysis to action. Interviewers want to see that candidates can translate data insights into purposeful leadership decisions. Each proposed action should be specific, proportionate, and clearly linked to a desired outcome. For example, introducing targeted subject moderation, refining assessment practices, or implementing focused intervention for particular pupil groups. You should always articulate the intended impact on student learning. This demonstrates an understanding that leadership actions are not ends in themselves but tools to improve teaching quality and pupil progress.

The prioritisation task

Preparing for a prioritisation task requires you to demonstrate calm judgement, strategic thinking, and a clear understanding of school leadership responsibilities. A fundamental principle is that safeguarding must always come first. However, the most pressing safeguarding concern is not always the most obvious one. For example, consider these two situations, both of which have come to you first thing in the morning:  

  1. A child has made a disclosure to a TA that a bruise on their arm has been caused by their parent at home. The TA has brought this disclosure to you.  
  1. The Premises manager has told you that the fire alarm is not working.  

You could be forgiven for treating the first situation as the priority. It is more emotive because there is a distressed child who is almost certainly at risk of further harm. However, the fire alarm not working leaves the entire school at risk of harm. Crucially, this is also an immediate risk of harm. The child who has made the disclosure is safe for the day at the very least. So, in this instance, the priority would be to ensure that the Premises manager is dealing with the fire alarm not working in the most urgent manner possible. Then, you would move to the child who has made the disclosure.  

You should also ensure that you explain the reasoning behind your chosen order of priorities (see my example in previous paragraph). The panel is not simply interested in the final list but in the thinking that sits behind it. Clear justification shows that decisions are being made strategically, balancing urgency, risk, and impact across the school and crucially, keeping a calm and considered head under pressure.  

Another important feature of strong responses to this task is effective delegation. Deputy heads rarely address every task personally; instead, they ensure the right people act quickly. Again, refer back to the example above. The fire alarm situation was dealt with by delegating the action to the best placed person to carry out that action. Identifying which actions should be handled by specific leaders demonstrates organisational awareness and efficiency. Another example might be a parental complaint. While a complaint may require senior oversight, a candidate might prioritise sending a brief holding email to a parent acknowledging the concern and confirming that a full response will be provided the following morning, ensuring communication remains prompt and professional while other urgent matters are addressed.

Lesson observation

Providing lesson observation feedback to a resistant teacher is a really common interview task, possibly because it’s a lot of fun for someone on the panel to play the role of the resistant teacher! The task requires you to demonstrate professionalism, empathy, and instructional clarity. A key starting point is to seek the teacher’s perspective first. Before offering any evaluation, strong candidates ask reflective questions such as what the teacher noticed during the lesson and how they interpreted what they noticed in the context of learning. This helps to show that you understand the importance of surfacing the teacher’s awareness and respecting their professional judgement. It also allows the conversation to build from shared observations rather than immediately positioning the feedback as top-down.

Equally important is active listening. You should reference and acknowledge what the teacher says, paraphrase key points, and ask clarifying questions. Demonstrating this in the interview scenario signals to the panel that you understand the importance of building a shared understanding before moving to improvement. When teachers feel heard, they are far more likely to engage constructively with feedback and showing the panel that you understand this is important.

When moving to development points, it is most effective to focus on one high-leverage action rather than a long list of improvements. Prioritising a single, carefully chosen step keeps the feedback manageable and increases the likelihood of meaningful change. The suggested action should be clear, specific, and linked directly to improving pupil learning. This really shows the panel that you understand how difficult improving teaching is and how it requires carefully chosen steps.  

Have a practice…

If the advice around how to tackle these common interview tasks has left you eager to get practicing, take a look at the two example tasks below. They include a data analysis task and a prioritisation task. Leadership Matters also has great material you can use to improve your confidence in these key areas. Remember to keep the blog close by so you can critique your responses. And, good luck in your applications!  

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