How to become a tertiary teaching assistant

Official title: Tertiary teaching assistant

Also called: Teaching assistant, Academic tutor, University tutor

Tertiary teaching assistants help staff at tertiary institutions by leading discussion groups and preparing and grading exams or papers.

Main tasks

• Assist lecturers and other staff
• Prepare and supervise tests
• Tutor students
• Give academic guidance
• Mark student work
• Guide class discussions
• Supervise laboratory work
• Create learning materials

How to become one

You need a qualification to become a tertiary teaching assistant and experience may be useful. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a relevant bachelor's degree OR postgraduate qualification. Other requirements: experience in similar work.

See the full Tahatū profile

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

• Most common pay: $64,000 to $111,000 a year (median $87,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
• Upper: $156,000 a year
• TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
• Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Decrease (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
• People employed in the group University Lecturers and Tutors: 14,283 at the 2018 Census and 14,190 at the 2023 Census (-0.7%). Past change, not a forecast.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• About 250 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
• In the group University Lecturers and Tutors, 51% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
• Where people in the group University Lecturers and Tutors work (2023 Census): Auckland 35.8%, Canterbury 14.2%, and Wellington 13.6%.

Related jobs

• Tertiary lecturer
• Private teacher
• Māori medium teacher
• Kaupapa Māori researcher
• Early childhood education manager
• School principal

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Questions people ask

How do I become a tertiary teaching assistant?

You need a qualification to become a tertiary teaching assistant and experience may be useful. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a relevant bachelor's degree OR postgraduate qualification. Other requirements: experience in similar work.

How much does a tertiary teaching assistant earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $87,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $64,000 to $111,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a tertiary teaching assistant grown in New Zealand?

It has shrunk: TEC records a decrease in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a tertiary teaching assistant?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine 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. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026