Teaching assistant
Teaching assistants (TAs) support teachers in the classroom and help children with reading, writing and learning activities.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a teaching assistant, you could:
- help teachers prepare materials
- set up classrooms ready for lessons
- work with individual students and small groups
- watch, record and report the progress students make
- look after children who are upset or unwell
- lead classes and activities with help from the teacher
- work closely with families and carers
Working environment
You could work at a school or at a special needs school.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
Career path and progression
When working as a teaching assistant, your employer will give you opportunities to develop your skills.
For example:
- managing behaviour
- mentoring
- understanding special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
- providing extra support for particular subjects
With experience, you could take a course to become a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA).
You might also wish train to become a qualified teacher.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- sensitivity and understanding for building good relationships with children
- excellent verbal communication skills for motivating children to learn
- active listening skills to understand the childrens' needs
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be flexible and open to change for working on different activities
- to enjoy working with other people
- the ability to teach pupils how to do something
- the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Restrictions and Requirements
You'll need to:
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- volunteering
- applying directly
You could do a college course to gain some of the skills and knowledge you need to do this job.
Courses include:
- supporting teaching and learning in schools
- childcare and education
- T Level in Education and Early Years
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
More Information
You could apply to do a Teaching Assistant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
This takes up to 2 years to complete and is a mix of on-the-job training and learning with a training provider.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More Information
Volunteering is an excellent way to get experience of working with children and young people. This can also help when looking for jobs.
You can get experience by volunteering in a local school or with a community organisation.
You can apply directly for jobs through schools, local authorities and academy trusts. Each school sets its own entry requirements, though you'll usually need GCSEs grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths.
You'll also need to show that you can work well with children, teachers and parents. Volunteering, or a qualification in nursery work, childcare, playwork or youth work, may give you an advantage when applying for jobs.
Career tips
Teaching assistants may specialise in the kind of extra support they give, for example with:
- language and communication
- behaviour
- pastoral care
- special educational needs
Further information
Teaching assistants are employed term-time only. A working week can vary from a few hours up to full time.
Advertised pay rates are often listed as full-time equivalent (FTE). Actual pay will depend on the number of hours worked.
You can find more on working as a teaching assistant from Skills for Schools.
You can also search for jobs using the Teaching Vacancies service.
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.