jobfacts

School midday and crossing patrol occupations

SOC 2020 9232

School midday and crossing patrol occupations supervise the activities of school children during break and meal times and assist children to cross roads in the vicinity of schools.

Also calledCrossing patrolmanCrossing patrolSchool supervisorMeal time assistantMidday attendantPlay ground attendantand 42 more titles
Typical full-time pay£21,7002025 Provisional
People in the job50,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month1,100↑ 4.3%on last year · 171st of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time school midday and crossing patrol occupations earn, 2025
£21,700 typicaln/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less thanNot published
25%Not published
Median£21,700
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £21,700
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
Show as table
UK median, £21,700
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 2 years
  • 2024 £19,900
  • 2025 Provisional£21,700
↑ 9.2% since 2024Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,100 jobs for school midday and crossing patrol occupations are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026708
Jul 20261,005
Jun 2026Not published
May 20261,128
Apr 20261,059
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,023
Jan 20261,324
Dec 2025517
Nov 20251,232
Oct 20251,436
Sept 20251,908
Aug 2025669
Jul 2025908
Jun 20251,259
May 20251,018
Apr 2025729
Mar 20251,090
Feb 20251,148
Jan 20251,252
Dec 2024828
Nov 20241,239
Oct 20241,437
Sept 20241,640
Aug 2024653
Jul 20241,098
Jun 20241,175
May 20241,090
Apr 2024966
Mar 20241,102
Feb 20241,054
Jan 20241,362
Dec 20231,013
Nov 20231,072
Oct 2023977
Sept 20231,292
Aug 2023650
Jul 2023812
Jun 20231,420
May 20231,175
Apr 2023859
Mar 20231,364
Feb 20231,255
Jan 20231,724
Dec 20221,166
Nov 20221,706
Oct 20221,784
Sept 20222,169
Aug 2022856
Jul 20221,308
Jun 20221,478
May 20221,453
Apr 20221,119
Mar 20221,625
Feb 20221,300
Jan 20221,689
Dec 20211,215
Nov 20211,712
Oct 20211,753
Sept 20212,039
Aug 2021711
Jul 20211,110
Jun 20211,324
May 20211,176
Apr 2021756
Mar 20211,344
Feb 2021572
Jan 2021495
Dec 2020721
Nov 20201,101
Oct 20201,358
Sept 20201,645
Aug 2020521
Jul 2020620
Jun 2020625
May 2020296
Apr 2020283
Mar 2020773
Feb 20201,152
Jan 20201,190
Dec 2019752
Nov 20191,070
Oct 20191,188
Sept 20191,236
Aug 2019511
Jul 2019786
Jun 2019888
May 2019792
Apr 2019545
Mar 2019709
Feb 2019562
Jan 2019794
Dec 2018530
Nov 2018806
Oct 2018876
Sept 2018983
Aug 2018526
Jul 2018710
Jun 2018985
May 2018724
Apr 2018567
Mar 2018833
Feb 2018670
Jan 2018965
Dec 2017578
Nov 2017881
Oct 2017833
Sept 20171,202
Aug 2017468
Jul 2017652
Jun 2017805
May 2017671
Apr 2017528
Mar 2017795
Feb 2017605
Jan 2017852
Is there a shortage of school midday and crossing patrol occupations?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
5.9%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London352
Birmingham59
Bristol, City of56
North Yorkshire50
Dorset45
Wiltshire40
Leicester36
Somerset36
County Durham34
Manchester30
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where school midday and crossing patrol occupations are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of school midday and crossing patrol occupations
n/p
n/p
21%!
34%!
26%!
9.6%!
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–34Not published
35–4421% (small sample)
45–5434% (small sample)
55–6426% (small sample)
65+9.6% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!16%
Higher education below degree!7.3%
A levels or equivalent21%
GCSEs or equivalent35%
Other qualifications!13%
No qualifications!13%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent16% (small sample)
Higher education below degree7.3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent21%
GCSEs or equivalent35%
Other qualifications13% (small sample)
No qualifications13% (small sample)

Main employers: primary education (73%), public order and safety activities (9.9%), general secondary education (7.4%), other food service activities (3.8%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
16%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
GCSEs or equivalent
held by 35%
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • supervises the playground activities of children during meal and break times
  • cares for sick children and administers first aid if necessary
  • assists young children with feeding, dressing, washing and toiletry activities
  • meets children wanting to cross the road and directs them to wait at the kerb
  • waits for a safe gap in traffic and walks to the centre of road
  • signals approaching traffic to stop by using hand signals and school crossing signs
  • directs children to cross the road when safe

Skills

  • assess the development of youth
  • assist students in their learning
  • assist students with equipment
  • encourage students to acknowledge their achievements
  • give constructive feedback
  • guarantee students' safety
  • manage children's problems
  • observe student's progress
  • perform playground surveillance
  • provide lesson materials
  • provide teacher support
  • support children's wellbeing
  • support the positiveness of youths
  • escort students on a field trip

Knowledge

  • learning difficulties
  • curriculum objectives
  • workplace sanitation
  • common children's diseases
  • first aid
  • teamwork principles
  • children's physical development
  • kindergarten school procedures

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for elementary administration and service occupations, a group of 26 jobs that includes school midday and crossing patrol occupations.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 1.5%about 48,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 20351.5 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.