How to become a teaching assistant

Official title: Teaching assistants

Also called: Teaching aid, Teaching aide, Care assistant, School assistant, General assistant, Schools assistant, Teacher assistant, Teaching ancillary, Teaching assistant, Teaching auxiliary, Ancillary assistant, Auxiliary assistant

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

Main 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

How to become one

Academic qualifications may be required by some employers, although entry is possible with relevant experience (possibly on a voluntary basis) alone. NVQs at level 2 and 3 qualifications are available. DBS clearance is mandatory.

Ways in

• Apprenticeship (England): Teaching assistant (level 3). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0454.
• University: Psychology degrees, Offered by 26 universities in the UK
• University: Education & Teaching degrees, Offered by 25 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

• Median full-time pay: £21,239 a year The middle half earn £18,789 to £24,152.
• About 348,000 people work in this job now, and about 381,400 are projected by 2035. (+9.6%)

Related jobs

• Early education and childcare assistants
• Educational support assistants
• Childminders
• Nannies and au pairs
• Playworkers

Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz

Questions people ask

How do I become a teaching assistant?

Academic qualifications may be required by some employers, although entry is possible with relevant experience (possibly on a voluntary basis) alone. NVQs at level 2 and 3 qualifications are available. DBS clearance is mandatory.

How much does a teaching assistant earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £21,239 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £18,789 to £24,152.

Is a teaching assistant a growing career in the UK?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 10% by 2035, from about 348,000 to about 381,400 people (Department for Education).

Do you need a degree to become a teaching assistant?

Not always. 35% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Psychology degrees; Education & Teaching degrees; Teaching assistant (level 3).

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.