What Does a Teaching Assistant Do? Duties, Hours and Pay

The core duties of a teaching assistant

The National Careers Service job profile lists the day-to-day work of a teaching assistant as helping pupils in class, supporting pupils with additional needs, helping the teacher prepare lessons and resources, supervising group activities and recording pupil progress. In practice the role breaks down into six areas:

1. Supporting learning in class. Sitting with a pupil or a group of three to six, re-explaining the task, modelling the method, checking understanding and feeding back to the teacher.
2. Running interventions. Short, structured sessions outside the main lesson, such as phonics catch-up, reading recovery, times tables or handwriting, usually following a programme the school has chosen.
3. Supporting pupils with SEND. Working one to one or in a small group with pupils who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or SEN support, following the targets in their plan and reporting back to the SENCO.
4. Preparing and managing resources. Photocopying, setting up practical lessons, making displays, organising reading books and keeping the classroom ready.
5. Supervision and pastoral care. Break and lunch duty, escorting pupils between lessons, first aid where trained, and being a familiar adult a pupil can talk to.
6. Observing and recording. Noting what a pupil could and could not do, keeping intervention records, and contributing to assessments and parent meetings.

Which of these you do most depends on your level and on the school. A Level 1 or 2 teaching assistant spends more time on resources and supervision; a Level 3 teaching assistant takes a bigger share of the learning support and interventions.

Teaching assistant duties by level

Our guide to teaching assistant levels explained sets out the four levels in more detail, and the Level 3 Certificate is the course most people start with: TQUK, 6 to 9 months, assessed by portfolio with no exams, and you need to be in a school for at least 12 hours a week.

What does a teaching assistant do in primary school?

In primary, a teaching assistant is usually attached to one class or year group all day. The morning is typically phonics, reading and maths groups; the afternoon is often topic work, interventions and support for named pupils. You will hear readers, run guided reading, lead a phonics group and sit with pupils who need help to start or finish a task. Many primary TAs also run lunch clubs or cover the class register while the teacher is at a meeting.

What does a teaching assistant do in secondary school?

In secondary, the role is more often pupil-led than class-led: you follow a pupil or a caseload of pupils with SEN support across their timetable, or you are attached to a department such as maths or English. Duties centre on in-class support, exam access arrangements (reading, scribing or prompting under exam board rules), homework and catch-up sessions, and liaison with the SENCO. Secondary schools are also where cover supervisor and HLTA roles are most common.

What does a HLTA do that a teaching assistant does not?

A higher level teaching assistant can teach a whole class under the direction of a qualified teacher, plan and assess learning within the teacher's framework, and lead other support staff. A Level 3 teaching assistant supports learning but does not take responsibility for the class. HLTA status is assessed against the 33 HLTA standards; the Level 4 HLTA Certificate (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) (RQF) is the regulated qualification built on them. See our guides to how to become an HLTA and the 33 HLTA standards.

How many hours does a teaching assistant work?

Most teaching assistant posts are between 25 and 32.5 hours a week, term time only, which is 38 to 39 weeks a year plus a few inset days. A full-time NJC contract is 37 hours. Because term-time contracts are pro rata, the salary a school advertises is usually the full-time equivalent and the actual pay is around 80 to 85 per cent of it. Our teaching assistant pay scales 2026/27 page shows the NJC table and how the pro rata calculation works.

How much does a teaching assistant get paid?

Teaching assistant pay in England and Wales follows the NJC local government pay spine. From 1 April 2026 the NJC full-time equivalent rate is £25,614 at scale point 3, rising to £28,153 at scale point 9, with Level 3 and SEN posts often placed higher and London weighting added in the capital. Term-time contracts are paid pro rata. Full figures, including hourly rates and SEN allowances, are in our guide to how much a teaching assistant earns in the UK.

Do you need qualifications to be a teaching assistant?

No qualification is required by law, but most schools ask for GCSE English and maths at grade 4 or above (or Level 2 Functional Skills), an enhanced DBS check and some experience with children, and prefer a Level 3 qualification completed or in progress. We cover the detail in do you need qualifications to be a teaching assistant.