Teacher selection criteria: how to answer them, with worked STAR examples

What selection criteria are and how panels score them

Selection criteria are the skills, knowledge and qualities a school says the job needs. A merit selection panel scores every applicant against the same criteria, using your written application, interview and referee reports. Victoria's guidance tells panels not to decide on the interview alone. NSW panels shortlist applicants who don't satisfy the criteria out of the process altogether. Your written response decides whether you get an interview at all.

Panels are looking for evidence, not adjectives. 'I am passionate about differentiation' scores nothing. 'I set three entry points for each task and moved 6 of 9 students on learning plans to the core level in one term' scores well, because a panel can picture it and a referee can confirm it.

The STAR method, adapted for teachers

Length and format rules by state

Half an A4 page in 10 or 11-point font is roughly 220 to 300 words of prose, depending on spacing. That's our estimate, not a rule. Measure by page, as the Department does. NSW also recommends no more than three significant examples per criterion. With half a page, one well-developed example and a second brief one is usually the right balance.

Example 1: differentiation (Standard 1.5)

Criterion: Demonstrated ability to differentiate teaching to meet the learning needs of all students. EXAMPLE RESPONSE (fictional): I plan from assessment data so every student can access the same learning goal at the right level of challenge. In 2025 my Year 5 class of 27 included 6 students on reading adjustment plans and 5 working above level in maths. Pre-testing showed a spread of four year levels in multiplicative thinking. I designed a unit with three entry tasks for each lesson, the same success criteria and fortnightly regrouping based on exit tickets. With our learning support teacher I set up a 15-minute small-group block four days a week for the six students on plans, using concrete materials before moving to diagrams. Extension students worked on open problems that I checked against the Year 6 content descriptions. By the end of term, 22 of 27 students met or exceeded the unit's success criteria, up from 9 on the pre-test, and 4 of the 6 students on plans reached the core task. I shared the tiered task template at a stage meeting, and two colleagues now use it. (Standards 1.5, 3.1, 5.4.)— Example only: a fictional, realistic response. Adapt the structure, not the content.

Example 2: behaviour and learning environment (Standard 4)

Criterion: Ability to create a safe, positive and inclusive learning environment. EXAMPLE RESPONSE (fictional): I build classroom environments where routines are explicit and students feel known. Taking over a Year 9 science class mid-year, I inherited a group with 14 behaviour incidents logged in Term 2 and low practical-lesson participation. My task was to restore safe practical work within a term. I co-wrote three lab routines with the class, taught and rehearsed them in the first week, and used a seating plan built from student surveys. I greeted students at the door each lesson and made two positive phone calls home each week, prioritising students with recent incidents. When one student repeatedly refused to follow safety rules, I followed the school's stepped process, held a restorative conversation with the student and our year coordinator, and set a short-term goal we reviewed weekly. In Term 3 incidents fell to 3, every student completed the required practicals, and the class's average on the practical report task rose 12 percentage points. (Standards 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 7.3.)— Example only: a fictional, realistic response.

Example 3: assessment and data (Standard 5)

Criterion: Demonstrated ability to use student assessment data to inform teaching and improve outcomes. EXAMPLE RESPONSE (fictional): I use formative and summative data to decide what to reteach and who needs what. Our Year 7 writing results showed paragraph structure as the weakest area across my two classes. I set a short diagnostic, coded responses against four criteria and found that 60% of students could write a topic sentence but under a third could link evidence to it. I planned a six-lesson sequence of modelled, shared and independent writing focused on explaining evidence, with feedback at the end of each lesson against a single criterion. I moderated a sample with a colleague to check my judgements were consistent. On the term's common assessment, the share of students at or above the expected level for that criterion rose from 31% to 64%. I presented the diagnostic at a faculty meeting, and it's now used in Years 7 and 8. (Standards 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4.)— Example only: a fictional, realistic response.

Example 4: working with colleagues and parents (Standards 6 and 7)

Criterion: Demonstrated capacity to work collaboratively with colleagues, parents and the wider community. EXAMPLE RESPONSE (fictional): I treat parents and colleagues as partners in each student's learning. As Kindergarten team leader in 2025, I noticed that families of students learning English as an additional language rarely attended information sessions. With our EAL/D teacher and the community liaison officer, I organised a term-one picture-book evening run in three community languages, with take-home reading packs and a short guide to supporting phonics at home. I also changed our team's parent communication to short fortnightly photo updates with one home-learning idea. Attendance at our second family session rose from 11 to 38 families. Our Term 2 phonics check showed the EAL/D group's average improve faster than the cohort average. Two families later volunteered for classroom reading. I documented the model so other stages could run it. (Standards 7.3, 7.4, 6.3, 1.3.)— Example only: a fictional, realistic response.

Graduate teachers: what counts as evidence

If you've just finished your degree, use your placements, your Teaching Performance Assessment, casual or tutoring work, coaching, and community roles. Panels know you haven't run a faculty. They want to see that you can plan from data, manage a class and reflect. A strong graduate example: 'On my final 10-week placement in a Year 3 class, I...' followed by a real result from your TPA data. Map it to the Graduate descriptors. Our graduate teacher first year guide covers what comes next.

The mistakes that sink applications

• Restating the criterion for the first third of the page.
• Listing duties ('I was responsible for...') instead of actions and results.
• 'We' throughout, so the panel can't tell what you did.
• Standard-number stuffing: 'This demonstrates 1.2, 1.5, 2.1, 3.3...' without the evidence.
• Going over the limit. In NSW, applications that significantly exceed the page length may be excluded.
• Reusing an application without changing it for the school's context and priorities.
• Unverifiable claims. Panels ring referees, and NSW contacts at least two for shortlisted teacher applicants.