How to become a higher education teaching professional
Official title: Higher education teaching professionals
Also called: Teaching assistant, Teaching associate, Graduate teaching assistant, University teaching assistant, Postgraduate teaching assistant, Deputy head, Course tutor, Course leader, Dance teacher, Midwife tutor, Assistant head, Dance lecturer
Higher education teaching professionals deliver lectures and teach students to at least first degree level, undertake research and write journal articles and books in their chosen field of study.
Main tasks
- Prepares, delivers and directs lectures, seminars and tutorials
- Prepares, administers and marks examinations, essays and other assignments
- Advises students on academic matters and encourages independent research
- Provides pastoral care or guidance to students
- Participates in decision making processes regarding curricula, budgetary, departmental and other matters
- Directs the work of postgraduate students
- Undertakes research, writes articles and books and attends conferences and other meetings
How to become one
Entry will require a good honours first degree plus a higher degree or an equivalent professional qualification. For vocational subjects, practical experience and additional qualifications may also be required. A DBS check may be required.
Ways in
- Apprenticeship (England): Academic professional (level 7). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0477.
- University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
- University: Education & Teaching degrees, Offered by 25 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £52,835 a year The middle half earn £42,062 to £66,191.
- About 263,800 people work in this job now, and about 287,600 are projected by 2035. (+9%)
Related jobs
- Secondary education teaching professionals
- Further education teaching professionals
- Primary education teaching professionals
- Nursery education teaching professionals
- Special and additional needs education teaching professionals
- Teachers of english as a foreign language
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Questions people ask
How do I become a higher education teaching professional?
Entry will require a good honours first degree plus a higher degree or an equivalent professional qualification. For vocational subjects, practical experience and additional qualifications may also be required. A DBS check may be required.
How much does a higher education teaching professional earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £52,835 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £42,062 to £66,191.
Is a higher education teaching professional a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 9% by 2035, from about 263,800 to about 287,600 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a higher education teaching professional?
Usually. 96% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.