To think most people have no idea how little HLTAs/Teaching Assistants earn?

[LorlieS]

Anybody want to hazard a guess at the average monthly income of a ft HLTA/TA?

It really is quite shocking!

Dwindlebug But the thread is about salary, not about workload or my school. I only replied originally to the thread to say that I think the salary for TAs is fair but the work that many schools get them to do for that money is not fair. So workload issue not pay issue.

Info about my specific school was only in response to you asking me and is only one of 100s of different experiences TAs would have in different schools. So, as you say, not relevant to the thread as a whole.

@LorlieS Just because you have worked with TAs who have qualifications, it makes no difference to the fact that qualifications are NOT REQUIRED to be a TA. You don't have to be in education to be aware of this simple truth.

Support staff for school is classed as anyone who is not a teacher, so caretaking staff, dining hall staff, TA's, admin, non teaching Heads of Year and SLT. Their pay is pro-rata to term time only and they often have less favourable terms and conditions e.g. length of sick pay. It's criminal.

Headteachers are responsible for the safety of their pupils, EHCPs and quality of provision which is monitored by OFSTED the same as everything else.

So TheCircusOfLife can you tell us how heads are supposed to deliver the above with TAs who have no qualifications?

@DwindleBug What has that got to do with the price of fish?
Are TAs required to have qualifications? YES or NO

@TheCircusOfLife @DwindleBug well, it's a vicious circle, isn't it? Most TAs with lower academic qualifications can't do the level of work Dwindlebug describes. But, because more highly qualified people are applying for and accepting the jobs, the underfunded schools get them to do that work (which was not part of a TAs role before) and the government gets away with continuing to not fund schools properly. It's specialist work that should be done by specialists. Not by TAs who may happen to have those qualifications and are cheaper to employ.

To work in early years you have to hold a relevant qualification.

Schools in my LA definitely ask for a relevant teaching assistant qualification so yes there is a relevant qualification to be a TA which working other minimum wage jobs you don't need to hold or have any qualifications. Even those who are unqualified are often doing an apprenticeship.

TAs are being upskilled in their roles/ relied upon more- but not having the pay to cover the added responsibilities.

In reference to your other question to myself a while back, my solution would be to increase the hours TAs work to 8.30- 4 so all are paid for the unpaid prep they do and/or support the teacher more before children arrive - god know teachers have a list as long as their arms to get done! However this is going to cost schools, not suit all TAs, and as we know there isn't any money in the budget which is why TAs are being made redundant to the detriment to our most vulnerable children.

TA salary for FT (8.30)at my school is 18217, inc their holiday pay.

If any of them want to they can pick up evenings and weekends or school holiday shifts they can do and work in our resi homes

You shouldn't be going above and beyond on a regular basis and being a martyr - it isn't kind, helpful, sustainable or being a team player in the long term.

I agree with this, easier said than done but it just sets a precedent for the next person. At one point I was expected to deliver GCSE lessons in subjects I was unfamiliar with for one-to-one teaching sessions with no support from the teacher in my team and I just had to say no I wasn’t comfortable with it. There was no difference between what I was being asked to do and what the teacher was being asked to do in terms of work but yet she was getting paid at least 10K more and unlike me was term time only. It stopped once I spoke up and they got more (qualified teachers) tutors in to support us.

A bit of topic, but we all have to draw a line somewhere and collectively educators in general need to stop doing so much while the government are under-funding and under supporting them. It feels counter-intuitive but if it’s done as a collective and with a purpose it can achieve more in the long term.

What is happening now is that people who haven’t been able to make a stand are now leaving the profession in droves. It’s no longer sustainable as the cost of living rises.

There isnt a national career called TA.

Our HLTAs have to have GCSE English and Maths and a Level 4 qualification. This pay goes up to 27k pro rata.

There is a job advert for an LSA at my sons school and that says 'degree in relevant field and 3 years experience working with SEN teens is essential. that is paying 17k as its total salary. Its 8.30-5pm term time only.

TA job at another local school is minimum wage and the job advert announces it will go up in april. This job lists gcse English and maths as essential and a degree as desirable on its skills matrix But relevant experience might be ok for non graduate with evidence of workplace learning.

You don't need a qualification to be a TA. I'd imagine the majority are either level 2 or level 3 qualified though and most schools prefer it. I'm level 3 qualified and so are all of my colleagues. EY staff have relevant EYP qualifications.

The expectations for TAs differ massively from school to school depending on the head, whether its an academy or LA run, the number of children with SEND or on FSM/pupil premium and any number of other factors.

I work 8.50am-3.15. I get a full hour for lunch which is rare as a TA because in many, many schools, the TAs have lunch duty due to lack of lunch staff. I start my day with handwriting intervention with a small group then support as needed during English, not always with the lower ability group or SEND; sometimes I might take some of the children out to a quieter space to go over some grammar or edit some work. I do a reading intervention 3 days a week during assembly. I do 2 break duties a week. I then have an hour 1:1 with one of the children in our class doing maths in our SEND teaching area. In the afternoon, I do 2 1:1 interventions and listen to daily readers. I get time to prepare for my interventions during praise assembly. We have a phase meeting and a TA meeting once a week. I get time to record safeguarding and behaviour concerns and nothing comes home with me. I get £15k a year working 27 hours and I genuinely enjoy my job.

My previous role I got £13k a year working 30 hours. I put hours in at home because I didn't have time to do much at work. I was a 1:1, being assaulted and verbally abused daily, planning a bespoke curriculum for the child based on their needs and interests as well as handling a group of six children with varying SEND and planning their work too. I had to make my own resources, record safeguarding and behaviour concerns and keep my group's lesson and intervention trackers up to date, all at home. That was the head's expectation of how I went about my role. I was unhappy with it so I left.

I work hard and it can be intense and stressful. I make a difference every day though and I get a great deal of satisfaction from my job. It's a vocation and not everyone is suited to it. I do think some people go into it because its convenient for school hours and they think its easy and all about photocopying and reading and paint pots. It's not and those people are weeded out quite quickly in general.

My mum was a TA in the 1990s and the pay was bad then (but living expenses I don't think were as high) and ive no reason to beleive anything has changed.

A) the job is a CHOICE.
B) you have 12/13 weeks holiday a year 🤣

Try working retail - same money but 4 weeks off and longer days BUT again it's a CHOICE.

We don't have 12-13 weeks holiday ! We have weeks unpaid which is unlike retail! Also our unpaid weeks are during school holidays when it is most expensive!

Peg feeding, Salt interventions, physio interventions plus other small group work as well as single handedly covering a class as the teacher is off- isn't comparable to working in retail for the same wage

DH husband is an LSA (Learning support assistant) in an Independent school.

He works mainly with senior school pupils.
Those doing GCSEs and A levels particularly those with specific learning difficulties.

His take home is £1150 a month.

He works school open to school close (8.30-4) and runs an afterschool club once a week.

But he is term time only of course, so his wage is pro rata over the year and the school class him as part time! And deduct pay for a lunch hour that he rarely takes. Unlike teachers which are classed as full time.
This is particularly annoying as it impacts things like the discount he is entitled to so we can’t afford to send DS there.

He would earn more in the state sector, but it’s still not a good wage for the skill and effort he puts in.
He gets fantastic feedback and praise from parents but isn’t always treated well from the school.

And no sick pay for the first 3 days either. I completely lost my voice and the teaching staff persuaded me to not come in the next day so I lost a day’s pay. Fortunately it was something I could just afford to lose - but not so for others…..

£825 a month here

So who will support the most vulnerable children if all TA's choose something else? Or even if just the very experienced/capable ones?

There are plenty of threads on here with posters crying and screaming (understandably) that they don't care if the school can't recruit, their child needs x,y,z and their EHCP says so.

You earn more money in retail as you get paid for those extra weeks you work! Its not like TA's get the choice to go in during the holidays and get paid, contracts are term time only. And yes it's a choice, it's why so many are choosing to leave, quite often to go into retail!

Whilst school support staff wages aren't great it's the term time only that's the killer. It's only attractive if you need the holidays off. Otherwise despite the fact you are earning just over minimum wage per hour you end up earning less that someone who works minimum wage all year round.

I just don't understand why people are surprised that the pay for such a part time role is so poor? 6 hour days, term time working / 13 weeks of holidays - of course that won't equate to good money. But it needs to be balanced up with what's being saved on childcare costs.

It does however leave plenty of time for fitting in another job, such as holiday club. So that would top it up a bit.

If I dropped my hours to very part time, I would expect my pay to be crap too - despite me working in a professional role 🤷‍♀️

I’m a TA in Greenwich London I work 8:30am-3:30pm, 30 min unpaid lunch. I get £1400pcm after tax but only just had a very slight pay rise. My husband earns more. We have two young sons aged 8 & 10 so I’ve always been home to make dinner, take them to after school football, swimming etc. plus have all the holidays off with them. So have not had to pay for childcare or holiday clubs. I was earning over £30k before having our children in central London, all year round, 30 days AL sometimes starting at 7:30am other times finishing late getting home after 7pm over an hours commute some days.
I left after my second maternity leave, I now work a 12min drive away at a local school and am so much happier!

Not everyone is entitled to Tax Credits.
I love my job (reception TA) but considering career change when my daughter is in senior school as the money is so awful.
Knew a TA who took on a job and hadn't realised pay was pro-rata so very disappointed with her 1st pay cheque🤦‍♀️

Sorry to jump in on this thread and be irrelevant but can I ask you where you’re doing your MSc? My daughter has a first class psychology degree and some relevant work experience and wants to become a counsellor but it’s hard to get in! Well done for getting in, (unfortunately) there will be so much work once you are qualified as mental health is so bad across all the ages for so many. Good luck with your course.

That’s the FTE.

But what is the hourly rate. Most jobs are advertised at the full time rate, because each part time job will have different hours. TAs in our schools would earn £23k, if they work all year full time. And would take home approx 1400. And are paid 12.60 + an hour. A few years ago I would have agreed, but I think they now earn a decent wage. But that is the downside of term time and part time work.