Download and adapt our shortlisting grid
Use the template to help you decide which candidates to shortlist for interview.
How to use it
- Add all the essential criteria from the relevant person specification
- Go through each application checking off whether the candidate has met the essential criteria for the role, and use that as the basis for shortlisting
Make sure at least 2 people are involved in the shortlisting process (see paragraph 220 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2023).
Use fair criteria and rely only on evidence outlined in the application
Make your system clear and straightforward. Shortlist your candidates based only on:
- Criteria taken from the person specification
- Skills and experience outlined in the application that are relevant to the job in question
By doing this, if you're challenged you’ll be able to show:
- Decisions were based on relevant criteria and evidence
- You’ve considered each candidate fairly
- That a candidate wasn't shortlisted because they didn't meet a shortlisting requirement
You don't have to investigate a challenge to a shortlisting decision. However, if you’re challenged on grounds of discrimination and fail to investigate and respond, you could risk having a claim made against you in an employment tribunal. Acas told us this.
Make sure internal candidates don’t have an unfair advantage
For internal candidates, you still need to rely only on the evidence they present in their application. You may find this more difficult, particularly if they haven’t written a good statement as part of their application.
Using a shortlisting grid to record whether they’ve met particular criteria can help you to make sure your process is fair.
Decide on a practical number of candidates to shortlist
There's no specific number of candidates that you must shortlist for a role. Decide how many to interview based on the strength of the applicants and the time you have available to hold interviews.
Think practically about holding interviews. Roles that require multiple stages of interview, or for applicants to complete tasks, will take a significant amount of time for each applicant. Take a look at our interview questions & tasks to decide what's right for your recruitment process.
Be confident that you'll be able to consider each applicant fairly - this will be more difficult, the more people you interview.
Don't shortlist unsuitable candidates
For example, if you usually shortlist 6 candidates, and only 4 meet all the essential criteria for the role, don't put 2 unsuitable candidates on the shortlist just to meet a quota. You should just interview the 4, or consider extending the deadline for new applicants.
Remember, some candidates may drop out
Applicants will likely be applying for multiple roles at the same time. Remember that some may withdraw from your recruitment process between the application and interview stages.
Consider creating an additional 'reserve' spot on your shortlist, who you can contact for interview if you lose a shortlisted applicant, to make sure you still talk to a good range of applicants.
Use the same panel to shortlist and conduct interviews
The same people who will sit on the interview panel should also take part in shortlisting.
This adds another level of fairness to the process and helps make sure shortlisting decisions aren't subjective.
Using the same panel to shortlist and to conduct the interview also reduces the risk of a data breach (as it minimises the number of people who will have access to sensitive personal data).
Read more about who is eligible to be on a headteacher selection panel.
Anonymise application forms
There’s no requirement to do so, but it's good practice to avoid sharing applicants’ personal details with those who are shortlisting. This will reduce the possibility of discrimination, as such information could allow the panel to find out about a person’s protected characteristics.
This is explained in the statutory code of practice for employment from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (see page 228).
How to anonymise applications
There's no one right way to manage anonymous applications, but if you decide to do so, make sure you follow the same process for every candidate.
Separate any information about protected characteristics from application forms when you’re shortlisting. Acas told us this.
You could do this by:
- Asking candidates to remove personal information from their CVs before sending them (although you'll probably still need to check this has been done properly)
- Using your own form which doesn't provide space for any identifying information
- Asking a member of staff who isn't involved in interviews or decision-making to anonymise CVs
- This could be your school business manager (SBM)
If you're asking your SBM to anonymise CVs, they should:
- Make a copy and redact any identifying information (name, photo, place of birth, gender, nationality, religion, ethnicity, etc.)
- Keep the original copy so applicants' details don't get lost at the end of the process
- Send the anonymised version to whoever is shortlisting candidates
It should take about 10 to 20 minutes to anonymise each application, depending on its length, so make sure you allow plenty of time for this.
Be clear on what you're anonymising
Make sure you redact the same information for every applicant. Depending on how stringent you're being about personal information, this could be:
- Candidate's name, address and contact details
- Names of previous schools/businesses they've worked in
- Year they graduated/gained qualifications
- Names of universities and schools
- Any other information that might reveal or suggest identifying information. For example:
- A volunteering role at a Synagogue (this could be changed to 'place of worship' to avoid suggesting religion)
- Experience leading girl guides (this could be changed to 'children's group' to avoid suggesting sex or gender)
Collect criminal records self-declarations after you've shortlisted candidates
You should ask shortlisted candidates to complete a self-declaration form, concerning any criminal records or information that would make them unsuitable to work with children, according to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2023, paragraph 216. Your school leaders will manage this part of the process for you.
Do this after you've shortlisted based on how well the candidate meets the person specification.
The purpose of the self-declaration is to inform the conversations you have with shortlisted candidates, not to help you decide who to shortlist.
Consider carrying out an online search on shortlisted candidates
This could help identify any incidents or issues that have happened, and are publicly available online, which you might want to explore with the applicant at interview. You should inform shortlisted candidates that you might carry out these searches. This is explained in paragraph 221 of KCSIE 2023. Your school leaders will manage this part of the process for you.
If you're doing this internally (rather than paying a company to do it for you), you'll want to be very careful that you don't unintentionally form bias or break the law. For example, it's best to avoid looking at candidates' social media profiles – read more from Acas about using social media information when hiring. Stick instead to news articles and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn.
As an extra step to avoid bias, you might want to have someone who's not on the shortlisting and interview panel carry out the searches. This could be your SBM or HR team, if you have one.
This advice came from our internal HR expert.
Shred and recycle the paper you've used
Recruitment is usually a paper-heavy process, so think about data protection and the environment:
- Make sure you keep documents secure
- Follow your school's personal data breach procedure if any personal data is lost, or seen by people who shouldn't have seen it
- Dispose of the papers used throughout the process in a secure and environmentally friendly way, and in line with your school's records retention schedule
- Speak to your data protection officer and school administration staff if you need help with any of these steps