Educational assistant

A teaching assistant or educational assistant (often abbreviated to TA or EA; sometimes classroom assistant) in schools in England and Wales is a person who supports pupils in the classroom. Duties can differ dramatically from school to school, though the underlying tasks often remain the same.

Teaching assistants are often used to take small groups of children out of a class that need extra support in an area, such as literacy or numeracy. This can also include work with children with special educational needs (SEN), which the teacher cannot always accommodate in a normal class.

They are also mostly responsible for listening to children read and reporting back to the teacher if any issues arise. Helping teachers prepare for lessons by resources, or putting out equipment at the start of a lesson is another main role of the teaching assistant, and one which is becoming increasingly common, due to the National Workforce Agreement (see below).

Teaching assistants are not qualified teachers, and as such, are led and guided by teachers. The DfES (Department for Education and Skills) stated in the Consultation of 2002 that:

The occupation is constantly changing and evolving with the rest of the education workforce in the country. Teaching assistants are being given more and more roles within schools, and it remains to be seen how this "remodelling of the workforce" will alter the occupation.

On 15 January 2003, unions and the DfES signed the National Workforce Agreement, which began a reform of raising school standards and tackling workloads.

This agreement created a "new breed" of teaching assistants: HLTAs (or Higher Level Teaching Assistants). Their role is to support the teacher further by taking some lessons, and being more closely involved in children's learning. Becoming an HLTA requires a preparation course, in-school assessment, and a £450.00 fee.

Giving teachers time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) was also raised in this agreement. By September 2005, all teachers must be given 10% teaching time away from the classroom to plan, prepare and assess. Classes will be covered by normal teaching assistants, not just HLTAs, as originally planned. This has led to some concerns being raised.

There are nationally recognised qualifications for teaching assistants.

In Scotland the term 'teaching assistant' is not formally used. Staff who work alongside teachers to support the learning of children are referred to as classroom assistants or pupil support workers. In addition to the above list of qualifications classroom assistants in Scotland may also earn:

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