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Childcare

Teaching assistant

Teaching assistants support teachers and help children with reading, writing and learning activities.

Annual Salary

£14,000 to £21,000

Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

30 to 40 term time

You could work: evenings; occasionally

5.4%
Future employment

There will be 5.4% more Teaching assistant jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

As a teaching assistant, you could:

  • help teachers prepare lesson materials
  • set up and tidy classrooms for lessons
  • work with students to make sure they understand
  • watch, record and report the progress students make
  • look after children who are upset or unwell
  • lead classes with help from the teacher

Working environment

You could work at a school or at a special needs school.

Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.

You can get into this job through:

  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • volunteering
  • applying directly
College

You could take a college qualification to get started, for example:

  • Level 2 or 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools
  • Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education
  • T Level in Education and Early Years

Entry requirements

You may need:

  • 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T level
For more information
Apprenticeship

You could do the Teaching Assistant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship to become a teaching assistant.

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
For more information
Volunteering and work experience

You could get experience by volunteering in a local school or community organisation.

Volunteering can sometimes lead to paid work or a chance to get a qualification.

Direct application

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. A qualification in nursery work, childcare, playwork or youth work will give you an advantage.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Career tips

Many teaching assistants specialise in the kind of extra help they give, for example:languages; behavioural; pastoral; special needs support

Further information

Many teaching assistants have term time only contracts.

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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With experience, you could take a course to become a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA).

With further study you could become a fully qualified teacher. You can learn about routes into teaching from Get into teaching

You can find more on working as a teaching assistant from Skills for Schools.

You can also search for jobs through the Teaching Vacancies service.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

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
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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