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!

@Astridastro Holidays yes, but schools days less so. My hours of work are 8.30 - 3.30 (reality is 8.15 - 3.45) so I can't do any of the school runs for my own three.

I had no idea it was that low, no wonder my cousin is struggling with paying her bills, just shocking and very very unfair.

@sparepantsandtoothbrush As a HLTA with 3 kids, rent to pay and a low-earning husband, I wish I was in the position to be working for "fun" money. It's rough 😞

@NotDeliciouslyElla I agree. Quite a number of my teaching assistant colleagues rely on food banks which I think is so unfair.

Sorry I genuinely didn't mean to sound patronising. As I said, I love my job but if I was in your position, as many are, I would be so torn between doing a job I love and leaving to do something with better wages. It's ridiculously low wages for the work we do x

I know someone who is a TA for kids with some very demanding SEN they get about £14,000. Sometimes they have to teach too. Says they'd be better off if they went to work in a shop and would do but actually love their job.

I struggle to pay the rent and provide for my 3 kids.

Well, maybe you should look for a better paid job because TA roles have always been minimum wage. They're a support role and TAs don't need any qualifications to do the job.

HLTAs were just the Govt's attempt to get TAs doing the teacher's job without the pay and pension.

Says they'd be better off if they went to work in a shop

Most retail jobs are minimum wage too.

@1y7
Well, maybe you should look for a better paid job because TA roles have always been minimum wage. They're a support role and TAs don't need any qualifications to do the job.

Think again about that. Most TA jobs require at least a level 2 TA qualification but preferably a Level 3. Early Years TAs may require specific Early Years qualifications such as EYP at level 2 or 3.

The days when TAs did photocopying and messing about with paints are long gone. I spend much of my day teaching and supporting groups of between 4 and 10 children outside of the classroom with English, spelling and maths, supporting children to manage their behaviour and emotions (we have over 10 children in our class with additional needs) and marking. Several of the TAs at our school are qualified teachers who decided teaching didn’t fit with their family life so took a pay cut. I love my job, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t, but the pay is shocking for the amount expected of us

Round here, and everywhere I've worked and have knowledge of, science techs are on the same salaries as TA's. Not sure where you've got 8k from.

I used to be a TA and am now a teacher. TAs do so much in school for so little. Some of the TAs at my school stay after school unpaid to do work. I have several who work with my class and try to hurry them home at the time they stop being paid. The expectations are enormous and they are not given any time to prepare resources for interventions or write logs for behaviour/safeguarding etc. These tasks inevitably happen in their unpaid time.

TAs are paid for the hours they work, which are not considered full time (although it would be hard to make up the full time hours with a shift at a pub or similar as it is really exhausting), and then the statutory 4 weeks or whatever holiday pay. This amount is split evenly over 12 months so they get pay in the holidays, but they are not paid for the 13 weeks per year that school is not in session. When you see a TA job advert, it is showing the full time amount usually and the actual pay is pro rata. Teaching salaries are actually as advertised and not pro rata so I think this is confusing to people who aren't in the education sector.

When I was a TA, it was COVID so we didn't have as many outgoings as restaurants and shops were closed for a lot of it. So we managed to just get by. But we could not have managed on that wage long term.

Presumably they are then topped up with tax credits?

My take home pay was £1070.

The salaries are pro rated twice, from full time hours down to 08:30-15:30 (or thereabouts) and then down to term time only, so 38 weeks.

For someone who may be expected to work 1:1 with a child with high support needs, deal with violence aimed at them, teach small groups and even the whole class on a regular basis, cover for staff sickness, meet with parents, deliver specialist therapies to children etc, the pay is appalling. I think the general public think a TA is just someone's mum coming in to do a bit of photocopying and listen to the kids read. A lot of people would be shocked if they knew what TAs actually do and for how little pay.

My academy group pays TAs what works out at £18,900 py after the pro rata for term time only (starting rate, it can be notably more for HLTA). I do 37 hours a week in term time for this.

I feel really lucky in my TA contract! It is a lot better than many get, though mostly because they pay for many more hours pw than most TAs get. It is also a very difficult job though, in a very difficult school.

£10k?! You do know minimum wage is about to be just over £22k pa

Outer London, my schools pay £20kpa for a 30 hrs/week TA. That's the actual salary, full time equivalent if not working term time would be £29k.
HLTA salary is 26k actual.

As a Sci tech, I earn less per hour than the TAs, but because I work FT hours during term time, I take home more.
Yes, I get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday.
The whole support staff pay needs looking at. Covid has removed the school hours attraction, as many people can work from home these days, which switches the balance for many, as it relieves much of the childcare conflict.

Yes it's a low paid job but no worse than carers or nursery workers. It's in line as the level of skill needed is similar with low barriers to entry. IMO all these jobs (including TA) should be held in higher regard as they're looking after the youngest and oldest and therefore more vulnerable in society and these are very important roles.

In terms of the financials though, they're only getting paid so little as the working hours are few.

£22k FTE as these jobs are advertised is equivalent to about £11.50 ph. If you work 1 hour per year you'll get £11.50, if you work full time you'll get £22k per year.

In order to help TA earn more, more hours could be offered to perhaps help out teachers with admin, planning, marking, etc.
To increase the hourly rate though would be out of proportion and is a whole other conversation on increasing salaries across the board in education.

TAs/HLTAs are very underpaid for what they do. However I used to say to the TAs where I worked you'd be better off working at ASDA why do you do it? Most said because they love their job and/or because they get to spend all the 13 weeks holidays with their children which they wouldn't get in another job.

People get to choose what jobs they do, if you're struggling OP you need to find a better paying job (which won't be difficult!). But bear in mind there's going to be weeks of childcare to pay for as you won't get the holidays anymore.

@FrankieLet that's really interesting. I'm just thinking that one through.

So you're paid for actual hours worked but split equally over the year?

That explains why take home pay is so little but that's only due to the hefty holidays you get, whether you want them or not! I guess most people would want to work the holidays and get paid more.

It's just one of those things, this job is only suitable for people who don't need to earn much.

You're making a choice with this job, time over cash. I guess other support roles in schools (IT, Admin, etc) have the chance to earn more as they're able to do a full time role, not limited to term time only.

It works out at 10k a year.

For those saying ‘get a different job then’ it’s a vocational position. Most TAs are compassionate, dedicated and give 100% to the children they work with. Just as parents would expect. They deserve to be paid a wage that reflects that.

I know teaching assistants don't make much money and I always knew that but my dds sn teaching assistant appears to be loaded...nice car, always wears lovely clothes, designer bags etc. I presume she has a well off husband

It's not really much of a choice is it? If you have children and can't earn enough to pay for childcare in the holidays or wraparound care when they're at school (often because you have been out of the workplace for several years raising small children and your earning power has nose dived) then you are pretty much stuck with term-time only jobs while they are little, unless you go down the route of retraining which is costly and time consuming and not an option for everyone at every stage of their life.

Yes. It is criminal.

HLTA state school £13.96 per hour for 39 weeks plus holiday pay (so actually kind if paid for more weeks)
Salary is divided by 12 to get a monthly amount
LSA a couple of £ an hour less I think
Jobs are graded as per county council so someone in the council in a grade 8 job (HLTA) would get the same money.