The Role of Parents’ Interviews in School Admissions with Important Questions & Answers

During school admissions, the interview with parents plays one of the most significant and decisive roles. Parents are often not aware or do not pay as much attention to it while doing their own research on selecting the right school for their child, applying to them, and preparing their child for their interviews.

The parents’ interview and one-on-one sessions with the school authorities serve as a direct platform for both to understand the most suitable approach for the child’s comprehensive growth. It’s very important for parents to be honest and true to their selves during these sessions. The school representatives need to know the parents before they take the responsibility of their child’s education and enter into a long-term affiliation with them.

Parents’ interview for nursery admissions or high school admissions is also intended for the schools to understand the parents’ views and approach to their child’s education and growth. As they say, a child’s education begins at home. Keeping this in mind, they may also want to know their lifestyle and the environment at home. As a parent, you should not only be aware of the unfavorable traits of the child but also of their interest areas and hobbies because that helps us the schools in providing the right platform for them.

Take this time as an opportunity to ask the right questions that reflect deep interest in your child’s education. Too many irrelevant or insignificant questions may reflect that you have not done your research. In our last blog post, we shared how you can search for ‘schools near me’, compare and shortlist them based on key available information on schools, and apply to the ones best suited for your child via UniApply’s Common Admission Form.

Interview Questions and Answers for Parents for School Admissions

Please find some important high school and nursery interview questions and answers for parents for admissions below

1. What are your educational qualifications?

The school intends to know how you, as parents, plan to use your educational background to nurture your child’s future.

2. Do you live in a joint or nuclear family?

The answer to this question will not impede your child’s admission to the school, so there’s no need to worry. They just want to know what environment will your child be raised in, who will take care of them if you are at work, or who may appear for parent-teacher meetings on your behalf.

3. Do both parents work?

This may refer to the environment your child is raised in and its impact in their development. They may want to know how actively you will be invested in their education.

4. How would you describe your child’s nature?

The child will be outside their comfort zone for the first time at the school. They want to know how your child will cope with being separated from you, and how they generally react to strangers and other children. The teachers will accordingly engage with them in a specific manner.

5. Why did you select this particular school?

This will provide them an insight into what you want for your child’s education and future, and how it aligns with the school’s curriculum and approach to studies.

6. Have you ever punished your child? Why and how?

The answer to this question will help them gain insight into your approach to discipline and any disciplinary issues your child may have.

7. What do you believe to be your role in your child’s education?

Some parents plan to be with their children every step of the way, while others may choose to do the opposite. A combination of the two work best. The school wants to know who will influence the child’s education at home and how.

8. What does your child like the most?

This question will help the school in understanding the child better and know about their interest. This will also provide the school with an idea that how much you know your child.

9. What does your child dislike the most?

With this question, the school intends to know your child better by knowing about what things and situations they don’t like.

10. Any special incident or memorable moment that you would like to share about your child?

The answer to this question will not impede your child’s admission to the school, so there’s no need to worry. The school just wants to know about the experiences that the child has been through and if there are any prominent experiences that can show an impact on the life of the child.

11. How do you define successful parenting?

There is no proper structure of parenting, every individual has their own way of parenting. By asking this question the school wants to know about your perception of it and your way of parenting. Through this, the school will get to know how the type of parenting the child has received and how they are raised.

12. How do you expect the school to contribute to your child’s life?

Parents have a lot of expectations from the school they are getting their child enrolled. Through this question, the school will get to know what all you want for your child and how it aligns with the curriculum of the school and its overall approach towards the development of students.

13. How important is a discipline in child’s life?

With the help of this question, the school wants to understand your take on discipline and its importance in the life of the child. The school will also get to know about the level of discipline the child has and how it has been built from a young age.

14. How much time do you spend with your child?

Proper time from parents is of a lot of importance for the good upbringing of the child. Through this question, the school wants to understand if you spend proper time will your child and if you can assist them in the important years of schooling. Parents’ involvement in activities in the early schooling years is very important.

15. What do you do when your child throws tantrums?

There is no single thumb rule as every child is different & shall behave differently in a given situation. There can be different ways to handle different tantrums. The school wants to know about your approach towards that as some parents can be really strict and some try to understand the reason behind such tantrums and then tackle them accordingly.

16. What should you do when your child misbehaves in front of others?

Discouraging bad behavior in children can be tricky. And there can be different approaches to do that. To know your approach towards this the school can ask this question. It will let the school understand what are ways to tackle your child. The school will also get to know if such behavior is a repetitive thing or once in a while.

17. What are your aspirations for your child?

It is important for the school to understand the aspirations of children and the aspirations of parents for their children so the school can know if it aligns with the mission of the school or not. You can mention all the things that you want for your child be it in their personal life or their personal life. Keep in mind both the long-term and short-term things.

18. How will you develop the qualities of sharing and caring in the child?

A child learns the most from their parents in the initial years of his age and these small things tell a lot about the child and their upbringing. With the help of this question, the school wants to understand if the child is comfortable with sharing their things and what ways you have used to help them develop these qualities.

19. What is your opinion about creating a routine in a child’s life?

Through this question, schools can get an idea about how much importance is laid on discipline and routine in life. By this, it can also get to know if the school can also get to know if the child can stick to a routine or not. Students also get to learn a lot of important things like time management, the ability to adjust, and various other things.

20. What are your views on schools giving homework to your child?

Homework is an important part of school life but people can have different views about whether it should be given to students or not. With the help of this question, the school wants to know your views about it and you should answer accordingly. You should keep in mind that it helps the child to organize and get into a habit of understanding responsibility. Ultimately developing regular study habits in the child. However, overburdening with HW is also not advisable as in that case, he would not find time to nurture his creative abilities.

21. What are the three important things you are looking for in a school for admitting your child?

This question can help the school in understanding your expectations from the school in a better way. You should mention all the things that you are looking for clearly. You can mention the following things:

• Name and reputation of the school
• Distance (It would be torturous for a child to travel 2 -2.5 hours every day to and fro, so I would definitely keep that in mind)
• Methodology
• Faculties
• Safety and hygiene level and last but not the least
• Student-teacher ratio

22. What role teachers play in child development?

You should clearly state whatever you think about the role of a teacher in the development of students. You can mention things like teachers play a secondary role of parents by taking responsibility for the growth and development of a child. Teachers nourish the child with love, support, and good habits and bring the best out of a child. They help to unleash the true potential of a child.

So, these were some school admission interview questions and answers for parents along with tips to help you make the right decision.

Must Read: Nursery School Admission Interview Questions & Answers for Child

While these are significant times and questions, know that there is no need to be too anxious; there’s ample time for your child to grow and become an intelligent and responsible adult. This is after all only one small step forward in your child’s education. You could do a mock interview with your partner which could help you explore each other’s views and approach towards your child’s education and development.

School Interview Tips for Parents

All parents wants their children to study in good schools and get a good education. The process of school admission has a lot of stages and one very important stage is the interview of parents. Mentioned below are some important tips that you should keep in mind to crack the interview process.

• Always be on time, and make sure that you are not late. Because lack of punctuality can leave a negative image on the school management.
• Try not to talk too much about your status in society or your financial situation. Keep in mind that the school has no interest in knowing about all this.
• Every school tries to provide the best that it can so you should not compare one school to another during interviews.
• Make sure that you and your child know the basics properly. The core of conducting interviews is to know better. Make sure that you are prepared for the questions that can be asked.
• A lot of times parents think that being friendly in the interviews can help them but it is not like that. Being too friendly in the interview can leave a negative impression so you should try doing that.
• Follow basic manners throughout the interview to leave a good impression.

Note that you should not answer any questions directed towards your child as they may want to how comfortable and confident, they are when speaking to strangers.

Also note that registrations for nursery admission in Delhi are now open. You can search for ‘nearby nursery schools’ on UniApply, to explore, compare, shortlist, and apply to your preferred schools with a Common Application Form.

All the best!

Also Read:
How to Fill Admission Form of Nursery Schools in Delhi
School Admission Interview Questions and Answers for Parents
Schedule for Delhi Nursery Admissions 2022-23 Announced
All Documents Required for Nursery Admissions in Delhi
Delhi School Admission Eligibility for 2022-23 | Nursery Selection Criteria