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Teaching assistants support teachers and help children with reading, writing and learning activities.
You could work: evenings; occasionally
As a teaching assistant, you could:
You could work at a school or at a special needs school.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
You can get into this job through:
You could take a college qualification to get started, for example:
You may need:
You can do the Teaching Assistant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship to become a teaching assistant.
You'll usually need:
You could get experience by volunteering in a local school or community organisation.
Volunteering can sometimes lead to paid work or a chance to get a qualification.
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. A qualification in nursery work, childcare, playwork or youth work will give you an advantage.
You'll need to:
Many teaching assistants specialise in the kind of extra help they give, for example:languages; behavioural; pastoral; special needs support
You can find more on working as a teaching assistant from Skills for Schools.
You can also search for jobs using the Teaching Vacancies service.
With experience, you could take a course to become a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA).
With further study you could become a fully qualified teacher. You can learn about routes into teaching from Get into teaching
You can find more on working as a teaching assistant from Skills for Schools.
You can also search for jobs through the Teaching Vacancies service.