Teaching Assistant: Job Profile and Role

How many times have you attended a lesson without really knowing what the teacher was talking about? Which, in consequence, left you slightly frustrated and unhappy with your overall performance? Would it not have been nice to have had a teaching assistant who provided the support you would have needed?

If you can answer one or more of these questions, you may already have thought of becoming a teaching assistant. After all, you know that a little bit of extra help can make a pupil’s life a lot easier and less stressful. The following blog will outline what it takes for you to become a teaching assistant. You will find out which qualifications, educational background, and skills are needed. You will also get a first idea about the expected annual salaries, your potential employers, and the tasks you are asked to perform during your working day. Last, but not least, you get three valuable tips for thriving as an assistant teacher.

Short Summary

• As a teaching assistant, you are required to support both the teachers and the students you work with. This includes helping with coursework and providing support for students with learning difficulties or special educational needs.
• As a teaching assistant, you are tasked with the classroom set-up. This includes ensuring that the needed teaching materials are at hand for each student and that supporting (digital) tools are in working order.
• As a teaching assistant, you can be responsible for assessing your students’ performance. This can also include grading and discussing both with the parents.

Job description

It is the job of a teaching assistant to support both teachers and students during and after lessons. When it comes to the teachers, it is an assistant teacher’s job to help ease the workload. This can include preparing lessons, assembling the necessary materials, and ensuring that the necessary (digital) tools are set up and in working order. It can also be the job of a teaching assistant to help with assessments and grading. A teaching assistant also gives one-on-one support to students and supports SEN students (special educational needs students). Lastly, a teaching assistant may be asked to liaise with the students’ parents to discuss education levels and education progress.

Responsibilities

• Supervision
• ESL Support
• SEN Support
• Small Group Work
• Liaison with Parents
• Administrative Tasks
• Individualised Support
• Supporting the Teacher
• Resource Management
• Classroom Management

Different types of Teaching Assistants

• General Teaching Assistant
• Graduate Teaching Assistant
• Behavioural Support Assistant
• Undergraduate Teaching Assistant
• Higher-Level Teaching Assistant (HTLA)

Salary

Teaching assistants in the UK can expect annual salaries that range from ￡18,000 to ￡27,000. Sometimes, the annual salary of a UK-based teaching assistant is considerably less and comes in at only ￡12,400. How much you will eventually earn depends on various factors, your work experience and working hours being two of them. Also, your annual salary as a teaching assistant will be affected by your employer and the location of your teaching institution.

Working hours

Typically, teaching assistants in the UK work between 37 and 40 hours a week. This applies to full-time assistant teachers which means that part-time teaching assistants tend to work fewer hours. How many hours you work as a part-timer depends on your employer and the hours he or she expects you to invest each week.

Note that additional hours will also affect your weekly workload. Some employers may ask their teaching assistants to attend meetings, workshops, and other extracurricular activities. Whether these can be declared as paid overtime is something you should discuss with your future employer.

Employers

Most teaching institutions in the UK are potential employers of teaching assistants. Depending on your preferred age group and qualifications, you can apply for a job at nursery schools, primary and secondary schools, or special educational needs support services. Other employment options include non-profit organisations, charities, private tutoring, and homeschooling.

Qualifications

There are four ways available to you when you want to become a teaching assistant: a college course, an apprenticeship (for example, a Teaching Assistant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship), volunteering, or applying directly for a position as an assistant teacher. Check the entry requirements carefully since GCSEs or equivalent qualifications may be a requirement. 

Further qualifications that you need may be a Level 2 or 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools, a Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education, a completed safeguarding training, and a DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service).

Skills

Excellent interpersonal/people skills are part of the skill set you as a teaching assistant should have. Naturally, you should also have strong communication skills that are not only of a verbal but also of a non-verbal nature. In combination, these two skills set you up perfectly to be a brilliant teaching assistant. What other skills you will benefit from is what the following section is all about.

Active Listening Skills

You may know the following situation/feeling: you want to say something and in your head, you know exactly how to phrase it (and it makes perfect sense). Only, when it comes to actually voicing it, your verbal and communication skills have deserted you. A feeling some of your students will also know. Therefore, as a teaching assistant, you should have excellent active listening skills. These enable you to hear between the lines. This way, you will know exactly what it is a student wants to tell you regarding expectations, needs, and so much more.

Keep Calm and Carry On

And with this, be a brilliant assistant teacher! Your job will require strong nerves, a high level of calmness, resilience, and patience. It does not matter if you assist young children, adolescents, or adults. When faced with difficulties and the ensuing discontent, even the most level-headed grown-up can lose his or her patience. The only way to diffuse this situation is to stay calm and be patient. Ideally, you also have the right solution for a specific problem at hand. This way, you can deal with the occasional hick-up in an efficient and stress-reducing way for all parties involved.

IT Skills

Yes, as a teaching assistant, you need IT skills. It might not have escaped your notice that the digital age has arrived at teaching institutions, although mobile devices are generally banned from classrooms. However, computers and laptops are not. As an assistant teacher, you should know your way around these respective devices and give your students IT support if and when they need it.

Possible Challenges Teaching Assistants can face

Even though the job of a teaching assistant is a dream job for a lot of people, it comes with its own challenges. Recent surveys have shown that a lot of assistant teachers struggle with the unpredictability of some students’ behaviour, the lack of a clear job description, and an increasing workload. 

Career Path

After you have worked as a teaching assistant for a few years, you can think about becoming a higher-level teaching assistant (HLTA). You can also do a part-time degree which qualifies you to earn your QTS (qualified teacher status). With this, you can advance from an assistant teacher to a teacher. Here, your career prospects can include becoming the head of the department or even the head of the school.

Educational Background

The common educational approach to becoming a teaching assistant is through a college course, an apprenticeship, volunteering, or applying directly to the job of an assistant teacher. Note that GCSEs may be a requirement. If so, you should have two or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D) or an equivalent that grants you entry for a level 2 course. It may also be required that you have between four and five GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) which will qualify you to enter a level 3 course or a T level. Maths and English are two of the mandatory GCSE subjects.

Entry Level and Training

You will start your job as a teaching assistant at entry level. Here, you gain the necessary work experience which then sets you up for considering other teaching assistant positions. If your approach to assistant teaching is through volunteering, you will already gain some of the work experience needed for the job as an assistant teacher. If you want to advance your career and go into proper teaching, you can do a teaching-related part-time degree while already working as a teaching assistant.

Continuous Learning

If you decide to become a teaching assistant, you should always keep in mind that continuous learning will be an important part of your professional and personal life. In regards to your specific job, this could include various training and courses, such as safeguarding and curriculum-specific training, staying on top of educational policies, and improving your personal strengths and competencies.

A Day in the Life of a Teaching Assistant

Naturally, a day in the life of a teaching assistant involves early starts, long hours, and a lot of assistance and teaching. But what exactly does the assistance involve, what does it look like? And what other tasks are you required to perform during your working day as an assistant teacher? In this section, we will take a close look at three of the typical tasks in a day in the life of a teaching assistant.

Assisting with Morning Routine

Assisting with the morning routine may include checking the students’ attendance, helping them get settled in the classroom, and ensuring that all bags and clothes are stored correctly and safely. This particular task may not be a part of your working day as an assistant teacher but it may well be. 

One-on-One Support

Hardly any student excels at every single school subject. Some students are geniuses in science or literary subjects, whereas others tend to struggle a bit. This is where you as a teaching assistant come in. You provide the necessary one-on-one support to pupils who need that tiny bit of extra help to manage their subject challenges. This support can take place both during lessons or after school.

Assisting with SEN Students

Depending on your teaching assistant’s job description, you assist with SEN students, students with special educational needs. To those, you provide the individual and needed support that helps them through their lessons and school day. Typically, the needs are outlined in IEPs, individual education plans.

Tips for Thriving as a Teaching Assistant

We are certain that you love your job as an assistant teacher. However, this does not mean that you want to a) stay in this job forever or b) that there is no need for you to thrive in this profession. Continuous learning is one way to ensure that you improve your various fields of knowledge but is only one tip for thriving as a teaching assistant:

• Show initiative
• Utilise online resources
• Learn about inclusive education 

Show Initiative

Generally, the teacher is in charge of the lessons and how they are run. As a teaching assistant, you are technically only expected to perform the tasks and responsibilities your superior (teacher) sets. But it still does not hurt to show and take initiative from time to time. Make suggestions on how to ease the workload even further, and come up with ideas on how to make teaching easier and more fun for the students. It may take some getting used to on the part of your teacher but in the long run, it will help you thrive as a teaching assistant.

Utilise Online Resources

If you want to thrive as a teaching assistant, you should always be on top of the latest news and developments related to teaching. Nowadays, you do not need to frequent a library to find the relevant books, you can just as easily log into your computer and do online research. Here, you can find various educational websites as well as platforms where you can exchange experiences with other assistant teachers. Getting all the information and tips and using them to your advantage will help you thrive as an assistant teacher.

Learn about Inclusive Education

As of a few years ago, students with special needs did not have an easy standing in schools, mainly due to the fact that their educational needs widely differ from other students’. Fortunately, in the last few years, the UK has launched several programs regarding inclusive education, making the support of SEN students an important aspect of the job of a teaching assistant. If you want to both help these students and at the same time thrive in your job, you should always be up-to-date on the latest strategies, programs, tips, and teaching methods in inclusive education.

Frequently Asked Questions