How to accept job applications
Why you should use Teaching Vacancies for applications
When posting a new job on our service you’re given the option to use the Teaching Vacancies application form or an alternative application process. We recommend you choose to receive applications through Teaching Vacancies so you can:
- set up an application process for your job listing with one click, saving time and money
- receive applicant information in a structured way, making it easier to shortlist candidates
- manage applicants for all your jobs on a single dashboard, whether you’re hiring for a single school or a multi-academy trust
- easily notify successful and unsuccessful candidates
- ensure you’re complying with the most up-to-date recruitment legislation
The Teaching Vacancies application form
If you choose to accept applications through Teaching Vacancies, candidates will be asked to complete an online application form.
We’ve designed the form to help you easily identify high quality candidates, and to ensure your recruitment processes always follow the latest legal requirements related to safeguarding and discrimination.
The form also makes applying easier for candidates. We save information such as their qualifications and employment history from their previous applications so they can use it in future ones.
This allows them to spend more time personalising sections such as their personal statement.
Step 1 - Personal details
As well as basic details such as their name, address and contact information, we give candidates the option to provide their teacher reference number (TRN) and National Insurance number to make it easier for you to verify their eligibility.
Step 2 - Professional status
Applicants are asked to confirm whether they have qualified teacher status (QTS) and whether they’ve completed their statutory induction year.
If they are qualified, we ask for the year QTS was awarded. If they’re not, we ask for further details on their current status.
Step 3 - Add a qualification
Applicants are asked to include their qualifications, including all GCSEs, A levels (or equivalents), undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and professional courses. They can add as many as they want.
When adding each qualification, we ask them to specify the awarding organisation, the subject(s), the grade(s), and the year it was obtained. If they’ve not yet finished studying for a qualification, we ask for further details.
Step 4 - Current role and employment history
Applicants are asked to include all jobs they’ve had since they left full time education. This includes voluntary work if it’s relevant to their application.
Applicants can add as many roles as they want, each with a summary of their main duties and a start and end date (unless it’s their current role). We automatically detect gaps in employment and will flag these to you on the applications dashboard.
Step 5 - Personal statement
We ask applicants to explain why they’re suitable for the role and to include any relevant personal qualities and experiences related to your job description.
If you’ve included any specific instructions for candidates when setting up your job posting, these will be displayed at this step to help ensure jobseekers submit the necessary information.
Step 6 - Add referees
We ask applicants to provide the name, job title, organisation and contact details of at least two referees. One of these must be their current or most recent employer.
If the applicant does not currently work with children, but has done so in the past, they’re asked to include a referee from the last time they did so.
Step 7 - Equal opportunities and recruitment monitoring
Candidates are asked to provide information on whether they have a disability as well as their age, gender, sexual orientation and ethnic group.
This information is not to be used as part of candidate selection, however it does allow you to anonymously monitor the inclusivity of your recruitment process.
For each question, applicants are given the opportunity to answer ‘Prefer not to say’. For any question where they answer ‘Other’, we provide an option to include further details.
Step 8 - Ask for support if you have a disability or other needs
Regardless of how they’ve answered the question regarding disabilities on the previous step, we provide candidates with an opportunity to explain any support they may require if they’re invited to attend an interview.
This may include adjustments related to a disability, a mental health condition, or educational needs.
Step 9 - Declarations
We ask applicants to give details of any connections to the school through their family or close relationships.
We also ask them to confirm whether they have the right to work in the UK.
Applicants are not asked if they are barred from working with children. Department for Education guidance states that applicants should be asked this at the shortlisting stage. This ensures that only school staff who are allowed to have access to this information can see it.
What happens when an application is submitted?
Before submitting their application, we ask candidates to confirm that the information they’ve provided is accurate and that they are happy for their data to be shared with:
- the Department for Education
- the school, trust or local authority which posted the job listing
- the school (or schools) the job is at
Each day you will receive a summary email of any applications that have been made for your active jobs over the previous 24 hours. This will link to your Teaching Vacancies dashboard.
Managing candidate applications
When you view your list of active or closed jobs on Teaching Vacancies, you will see the number of applicants next to each role where you’ve chosen to use our application form. Click these links to see details of job candidates.
Click on a candidate’s name to see details of their application. Each applicant is given one of the following labels:
- unread - new applications you have not yet clicked on
- reviewed - applications you have clicked on, but not yet rejected or shortlisted
- withdrawn - applications that have been withdrawn by the jobseeker
- rejected - applications which you have declined
- shortlisted - applications which you have taken on to the next stage
You can shortlist or reject applications either from the main list (once they have been reviewed) or from within the application details page. When you choose to shortlist or reject a candidate, you’re given the option to provide more information to be included within the notification email.
If they have been successful you may wish to include details on the next steps in the application process, such as when they will be invited to an interview. If they’ve been unsuccessful you can help them understand why.
You are able to reject a candidate after they have been shortlisted, however you are unable to reinstate candidates once they have been rejected.
To comply with data protection regulations, you will have access to applications for one year.
Get help setting up applications
If you have questions about using Teaching Vacancies to receive and manage job applications, please contact us.
Read our advice on how to write teacher job adverts.
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