I just had it!!!! State school/private school - same sh-t/ different day

6 replies

pleasepeople · 22/09/2026 20:24

Feeling really disappointed with being a TA – I work in both state and private schools
I currently work as a TA in both a state secondary school and a private school, and I’m increasingly questioning whether the TA role is actually for me anymore.
I genuinely love working with children. That’s the part of the job I really enjoy. I work with KS3 and KS4 pupils, run interventions, support children who are struggling academically, work with neurodiverse and SEMH pupils and provide a lot of pastoral and emotional support. I also have qualifications and experience in psychology, adverse childhood experiences, safeguarding and mentoring.
But despite having quite a lot of experience and responsibility, I’m increasingly frustrated by how TAs are perceived.
In my state school, there can be a definite feeling that TAs are at the bottom of the hierarchy. You can have a good relationship with pupils, know them extremely well, have experience and knowledge of their needs — but still feel invisible or as though your professional opinion isn’t particularly valued.
The private school is very different, but not necessarily in the way I expected. It is very corporate. Everything feels much more business-like, structured and commercially driven. There are positives, but it doesn’t necessarily make me feel more valued as a TA. In some ways, it has made me realise that the issue may not actually be state vs private.
Maybe it is simply the TA role itself.
I find that quite sad because I actually love working with children and I love education. I don’t want to walk away from schools. But I’m starting to feel that I have more to offer than being a TA and would like to move into a role where my experience, judgement and contribution are properly recognised.
Has anyone else felt like this?
For those who have worked in both state and private schools, did you notice a genuine difference in how TAs are treated? Or did you find that, regardless of the setting, TAs are often undervalued?
And if you left the TA role but stayed in education, what did you move into?

OP posts:

sesquipedalian · 24/09/2026 13:10

OP, TA’s are always in a difficult position - subservient to the teacher, and the first in the firing line if ever there’s trouble. It’s hard when you feel you are qualified and when your abilities are taken advantage of without any sort of acknowledgement. You could become a higher level TA, which is more responsibility, but you’ll still be on the wrong side of the TA-teacher divide. Teaching is not for the fainthearted, either, and it’s a very different job from being a TA. The only thing I can think of if you don’t want to teach is to look at SENCO roles, or look to moving into social services or CAMHS. You could always retrain as a social worker, but that might not be what you want. The TA role is difficult, because often you know more about an individual child or children and ways of managing them than the teacher, which can put you in an awkward position.

MyEasterBonnet · 23/09/2026 17:33

You’d be best getting into a school that has non teaching heads of year, and going for an internal advertisement. A lot of schools tend to have teaching staff as the head of year, and then non teaching as a deputy, but those roles are often sought after by TAs and are usually internally advertised. There isn’t a qualification you’d need to get for it.

Original poster

pleasepeople · 23/09/2026 16:45

I would prefer to be a pastoral side of things- defo not teaching. Maybe non teaching head of year

OP posts:

Tillow4ever · 23/09/2026 08:02

TA’s are great, and a godsend for sure - but they’re not teachers, so of course they come lower in a hierarchy. It sounds like you are overqualified for a TA role, but don’t have the qualification needed to be a teacher.

if you enjoy the job, and it pays enough, what does it matter what other people think of the role? Unless they are being awful to you. It sounds though like it bothers you more that people think you aren’t as important as say the teachers. Is it the parents, the students or the other members of staff that makes you feel this way? Or is it just your own perspective?

As others have said, train to become a teacher if you want to be higher up the food chain.

Smallpoxy · 23/09/2026 04:22

Why not become a teacher?

TAs arelowest in the hierarchy. It is unlikely to change for the time being.

MyEasterBonnet · 22/09/2026 21:46

If you think you have more to offer, and want to move into a role in education that’s more recognised, surely training as a teacher is the way forward?

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