Special Needs Teaching Assistant
What is the work like?
Special needs teaching assistants work in schools, helping children with a wide range of severe learning, physical or behavioural difficulties.
Your work as a special needs teaching assistant would depend on the age of the children and their individual needs, but would typically involve:
- supporting schoolwork under the supervision of the teacher
- preparing learning resources
- encouraging children's confidence, self esteem and independence
- helping children understand instructions, through repetition, re-phrasing or demonstrating
- putting into practice individual education, social, behavioural and personal care programmes
- encouraging children to communicate with one another and with staff
- providing feedback and assistance to teachers
- supporting children in social activities and on outings
- assisting children during therapy sessions
- recognising signs of distress in children and offering reassurance
- attending to pupils' physical needs
- completing records.
You could work in a special school (supporting children with severe or complex special educational needs), or with an individual pupil or small group of pupils in a mainstream class.
You could have a different job title, such as special needs classroom assistant, learning support assistant, support worker or special needs assistant.
What qualifications and experience will employers look for?
Individual local education authorities (LEAs) and schools decide what qualifications and experience they expect, so it is worth checking local job advertisements.
It is unlikely that you would find paid employment without relevant experience, and most qualifications for teaching assistants are aimed at people working or volunteering in a school.
A useful way to start gaining experience is to volunteer to help in a local school, perhaps for a few hours a week at first. General experience with children or young people with disabilities or learning difficulties would also be useful.
For some jobs you could have an advantage with nursery nursing qualifications.
You will need CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) clearance before you can begin working or volunteering.
To work with pupils with hearing-impairment you are likely to need a sign language qualification such as the Certificate in British Sign Language to at least stage 1.
What further training and development can I do?
As a newly-appointed special needs teaching assistant you would usually complete a short, nationally-approved induction training programme. Some local authorities also have a range of in-house training, which may lead to qualifications.
You can also work towards qualifications including:
- Certificates for Teaching Assistants level 2 and 3 (awarded by City and Guilds, Edexcel, CACHE, NCFE and ABC)
- NVQ levels 2 and 3 in Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools (awarded by City and Guilds, Edexcel, CACHE and OCR).
The level 3 qualifications include optional units on working with pupils with various special educational needs.
To be accepted on a course you would usually need to be working or volunteering in a school for a set number of hours a week, and may need qualifications such as GCSEs or the equivalent. You should check with colleges for their entry requirements.
You should be able to get advice from your school on which qualification would be the most appropriate.
LEAs, some colleges, charities and disability organisations provide in-service training relating to particular types of disability or learning difficulty. Your employer will usually help you to arrange this training.
Depending on your job, it could be useful to do training in relevant communication skills, such as:
- CACDP qualifications, including Deaf Awareness, British Sign Language, Deafblind Awareness and Deafblind Support Work
- Makaton (or similar) sign-supported English
- Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) courses, including Partners in Learning, a modular BTEC course for teaching assistants working with pupils with sight problems.
See the CACDP, Makaton Vocabulary Development Project (MVDP) and RNIB websites for details.
When you are experienced as a special needs teaching assistant, you may be able to study for a foundation degree. These are offered by a number of colleges and universities, and have various titles, such as:
- Teaching and Learning Support
- Education Studies for Teaching Assistants.
After completing a foundation degree you might be able to progress to a related honours degree which could provide a route for qualifying as a primary school teacher.
Where can I go for more information?
105 Judd StreetLondon
WC1H 9NE
Tel: 020 7388 1266
Block 4
Stockton Road
Durham
DH1 3UZ
Tel: 0191 383 1155
Textphone: 0191 383 7915
London
SW1W 9SZ
Teaching Information Line: 0845 6000 991
Related profiles...
Speech and Language Therapy Assistant
What salary and other benefits can I expect?
- Full-time salaries for teaching assistants can be between £11,000 and £13,000 a year.
- With experience or more responsibility can rise to around £16,000.
- Full-time salaries for Higher Level Teaching Assistants can be up to £18,000 or £21,000 a year, although this would vary depending on the LEA and the responsibilities of the job.
There is no national pay scale and wage rates are set by each LEA or school. Teaching assistants who are part-time and/or paid term-time only would earn a portion of full-time rates (known as 'pro rata' payment). This means that actual annual income may be less than above.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
What are the hours and working conditions?
You would usually work school hours, Monday to Friday, during term-time. However, many teaching assistants work part-time. You may sometimes have to attend training outside school hours.
Some special schools are residential. If you work as a teaching assistant in this type of school you may have to work a mixture of shifts covering seven days a week.
What skills and knowledge will I need?
- an interest in education and in working with children
- good communication and 'people' skills
- the ability to work well as part of a team
- good literacy and numeracy skills
- tact and sensitivity
- a responsible attitude
- patience
- the ability to be firm when necessary
- willingness to help with pupils' personal care needs.
What opportunities are there?
You could find opportunities in special schools or in mainstream or independent schools. Local authorities, disability organisations and charities run special schools, usually for pupils with severe or complex special educational needs.
Because of the move towards integrating pupils with disabilities and special needs into mainstream education, there are likely to be more opportunities in mainstream schools.
With experience you may be able to progress to a senior assistant position. You may be able to take on more responsibility by applying for training and assessment for Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status. Visit the HLT website for details.
You may find the following links useful for job vacancies and general reading (links open in new window):
LG Jobs
Times Educational Supplement
eteach.com
Teachernet
We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.
Search
Contact an adviser
Email
Call back
or phone: 0800 100 900
Bilingual advisers available
Face-to-face advice
