Teacher Reference Check Template
For phone or written reference checks. Use the same questions for every referee so answers are comparable.
1. Candidate and referee details
- Candidate name
- Role applied for
- Referee name
- Referee job title and organisation
- Referee email and phone
- Relationship to the candidate (for example, direct manager)
- Date of reference check
- Checked by
2. Consent
Confirm the candidate agreed to you contacting this referee. Tell the referee their answers are used only for this hiring decision.
- Candidate consent confirmed (yes / no)
- Date consent was given
3. Verification questions
- 1.How do you know the candidate, and what was your working relationship?
- 2.What were the candidate's start and end dates, as far as you remember them?
- 3.What was their job title, and did it change while you worked together?
- 4.Did the candidate report to you directly? If not, how often did you see their work?
- 5.What were the main reasons the candidate left, as far as you know?
4. Performance questions
- 6.Which parts of the role did the candidate own day to day?
- 7.Tell me about a deadline the candidate missed or nearly missed. What happened next?
- 8.Give an example of the candidate producing good work with incomplete information.
- 9.What result improved while they were in the role, and what was their contribution?
- 10.When results were below expectations, how did they respond to feedback?
- 11.What skill did the candidate develop most while you worked together?
5. Teacher questions
- 12.Which year levels and subjects did the candidate teach while you worked together?
- 13.How did the candidate manage behaviour in a difficult class? Can you give an example?
- 14.How well did the candidate plan lessons and adapt them for students who were behind or ahead?
- 15.What progress did students make in the candidate's classes, and how do you know?
- 16.How did the candidate communicate with parents, including about a student who was struggling?
- 17.How did the candidate contribute outside the classroom, such as faculty work or extracurricular activities?
- 18.How did the candidate respond to feedback after a lesson observation?
- 19.Would you hire this teacher for your own school again?
6. Working style and integrity
- 20.Describe a disagreement the candidate had with a colleague. How did they move the work forward?
- 21.How did the candidate ask for help when they needed it?
- 22.When the candidate made a mistake that affected others, what did they do?
- 23.What would you tell a new manager about working with this person?
7. Closing questions
- 24.Is there anything we have not asked that you think we should know?
- 25.What kind of manager or team would get the best out of this person?
- 26.Would you hire or work with this person again? Why or why not?
8. Recommendation
- Overall: recommend / recommend with reservations / do not recommend
- Strengths confirmed
- Concerns or follow-ups
- Signed and dated
Do not ask about health, family, age, religion or other protected personal information, and check the law where you hire.