jobfacts

Teaching assistant

Teaching assistants — SOC 2020 6112

Teaching assistants assist teachers with their day-to-day classroom work and with routine administrative tasks.

Also calledClassroom assistantLearning support assistantSchool assistantSchools assistantTeacher's assistantEducation assistantand 36 more titles
Typical full-time pay£21,2002025 Provisional
People in the job151,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month8,400↓ 7.3%on last year · 14th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time teaching assistants earn between £18,800 and £24,200 a year.

What full-time teaching assistants earn, 2025
£21,200 typical£17,100lowest 10%£18,80025%£24,20075%£27,200top 10%
Middle half (£18,800–£24,200)
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£17,100
Lowest 20% earn less than£18,400
25%£18,800
Median£21,200
75%£24,200
Top 20% earn more than£25,100
Top 10% earn more than£27,200
Typical pay by regionUK median £21,200
London£24,500
North East£22,600
Scotland!£22,000
North West£21,200
East Midlands£21,100
East of England£21,000
Wales£20,900
West Midlands£20,700
South East£19,900
Yorkshire and The Humber£19,400
South West!£19,400
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £21,200
London£24,500
North East£22,600
Scotland£22,000 (small sample)
North West£21,200
East Midlands£21,100
East of England£21,000
Wales£20,900
West Midlands£20,700
South East£19,900
Yorkshire and The Humber£19,400
South West£19,400 (small sample)
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £19,000
  • 2024 £20,500
  • 2025 Provisional£21,200
↑ 12% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 8,400 jobs for teaching assistants are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (4 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20266,153
Jul 20267,292
Jun 2026Not published
May 20269,252
Apr 20268,038
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20267,868
Jan 20269,957
Dec 20254,885
Nov 20259,693
Oct 20259,460
Sept 202511,186
Aug 20257,233
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 202510,404
Apr 20258,121
Mar 202510,103
Feb 20259,574
Jan 202510,735
Dec 20247,161
Nov 20249,098
Oct 20249,634
Sept 202410,546
Aug 20246,671
Jul 20249,556
Jun 20249,904
May 202410,014
Apr 202410,015
Mar 20249,033
Feb 20248,549
Jan 202410,336
Dec 20238,015
Nov 20239,494
Oct 20238,544
Sept 20238,868
Aug 20236,920
Jul 20237,833
Jun 202310,458
May 20239,471
Apr 20238,177
Mar 202310,701
Feb 202310,344
Jan 202312,240
Dec 20229,149
Nov 202211,901
Oct 202211,073
Sept 202211,129
Aug 20227,642
Jul 20229,961
Jun 202210,663
May 20229,868
Apr 20228,100
Mar 202211,081
Feb 20228,858
Jan 202210,627
Dec 20218,831
Nov 202110,678
Oct 202110,216
Sept 20219,520
Aug 20215,318
Jul 20218,258
Jun 20218,209
May 20218,480
Apr 20217,587
Mar 20217,575
Feb 20214,604
Jan 20215,086
Dec 20205,778
Nov 20206,649
Oct 20207,268
Sept 20207,011
Aug 20204,273
Jul 20205,507
Jun 20205,813
May 20205,222
Apr 20205,517
Mar 20208,087
Feb 20207,769
Jan 20208,331
Dec 20196,567
Nov 20198,323
Oct 20198,699
Sept 20198,232
Aug 20196,540
Jul 201910,693
Jun 201911,347
May 20199,947
Apr 20194,968
Mar 20196,343
Feb 20195,962
Jan 20196,509
Dec 20184,734
Nov 20187,159
Oct 20186,848
Sept 20187,128
Aug 20185,207
Jul 20185,847
Jun 20187,031
May 20185,584
Apr 20184,961
Mar 20185,979
Feb 20185,282
Jan 20187,285
Dec 20174,008
Nov 20175,891
Oct 20175,149
Sept 20175,543
Aug 20173,438
Jul 20174,096
Jun 20176,122
May 20174,365
Apr 20173,824
Mar 20175,196
Feb 20175,132
Jan 20175,362
Is there a shortage of teaching assistants?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertainty in change in hourly wage.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
33%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London3,609
Birmingham397
Manchester396
Wiltshire325
Liverpool278
Somerset273
Bristol, City of250
North Yorkshire240
Leeds234
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole233
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where teaching assistants are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 33 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Germany, United States, Australia, ranking it 160th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of teaching assistants
13%!
18%
23%
25%
19%
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–2413% (small sample)
25–3418%
35–4423%
45–5425%
55–6419%
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent34%
Higher education below degree11%
A levels or equivalent28%
GCSEs or equivalent18%
Other qualifications!4.2%
No qualifications!1.2%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent34%
Higher education below degree11%
A levels or equivalent28%
GCSEs or equivalent18%
Other qualifications4.2% (small sample)
No qualifications1.2% (small sample)

Main employers: primary education (71%), general secondary education (15%), pre-primary education (4.2%), educational support activities (1.8%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
34%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 3
Apprenticeships take
18 months
typically
T Levels
1
college courses for 16 to 19 year olds

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

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.

Apprenticeship

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

Other ways in

Volunteering

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.

Apply directly

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.

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks

Registration and professional bodies

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 search for jobs using the Teaching Vacancies service.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for teaching assistant. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job

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

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
Education and early yearsT Level3

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • assists teacher with preparation or clearing up of classroom
  • looks after lesson materials such as paper, pencils and crayons
  • listens to children read, reads to them or tells stories
  • assists children with washing or dressing for outdoor and similar activities
  • makes simple teaching aids and constructs thematic displays of educational material or children’s work
  • helps with outings and other out-of-classroom activities

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 caring personal service occupations, a group of 16 jobs that includes teaching assistants.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 20%about 466,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.9 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.

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