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!

I think some of the problem comes from the ‘full time’ -ness of the role. Many TA only work 9-3 (unpaid lunch), 38 weeks a year, so are paid for those hours/weeks.

Yes, they are terribly underpaid for what they do.

However OP @LorlieS if I was in your situation with 3 kids and low earning husband I don’t understand why you wouldn’t get another job, especially with your qualifications? I’m in a standard office job and our entry level roles are 32k. Some admin experience and a degree in any subject required.

I think the idea of more hours to support the teacher in terms of admin could be beneficial

If FTE is 22k, that's pretty good (more than I earn!) Surely the take home pay is poor because they don't work full days and term time only?

I really really struggle to believe this. What’s the point of doing a degree?

I know.

My DD’s TA is an absolute god send - she has become a close confidant for DD who is struggling with a girl in her class at the moment and it really upsets me how little this amazing woman is paid

On the plus side, you get a lot of holidays others don't get throughout the year. There are always positives to be found if you look for them.

The school I work in has 24 TA’s. 2 have a degree but they are only here for experience before starting teacher training. The ones that do it for their permanent job do not have degrees or A-levels. They are not ‘trained’ TA’s apart from the training they are given in school. They do a wonderful job and we love them and need them dearly. But they aren’t highly educated as it is not required for their role.

These jobs are like gold dust though and people do them as they don’t wish to work full time throughout the year. It is a choice. As a qualified teacher you have the choice to take a much higher earning role. As you chose to habe kids, you don’t wish to do this, as you don’t want additional work. Yes it’s tough, but it is a choice you’ve made.

These jobs are like gold dust though

Ten years ago, I would have agreed with you but not anymore.

It's the hours worked that's the issue. A lot of TAs at my school think they work full time but they don't- it's 25 hours a week. If they could work the whole year the salary wouldn't be as bad.

They are definitely underpaid though and an increase in wages would definitely help.
Ours aren't paid for PD days or staff meetings so of course (rightly so) don't go. Then we have to release them for training which is a real pain- wish they were paid for it!

Where I am folks are always looking for these jobs, generally mothers with limited qualifications who don’t want to work full time.

They are in our school as we've cut so many jobs due to not having enough budget. Some had to take redundancy. We only have TAs in KS1 in the mornings now and none in KS2 unless working with specific groups. It's so sad

its part time pay for part time work.

I think you need to be careful about academic qualifications and pay. There are lots of other civil service and local authority roles that have similar entry criteria but pay more. I do a role in school which has the same education profile (grade c maths and english) but is several grades higher. In fact my FTE is higher than a lot of teachers.

There also lots of jobs that are in the private sector that have similar entry criteria and pay more. Also a lot of jobs set unecessary entry criteria, because they can.

There are lots of soft skills needed to be a TA which arent often examined under GCSE, A level or degree.

They are in our school as we've cut so many jobs

Yes, us too.

They are gold dust as in there aren’t many of them left.

They aren’t like gold dust as in they aren’t the only desirable ‘flexible job that fits in round the kids’ which other jobs don’t do anymore. Loads of people can wfh since Covid and get paid more than a TA.

The wfh jobs don’t usually come with 13 weeks off per year, at the same time as your kids though. (And although some are flexible, many are still 9-5 ish hours so you can’t finish at 3 to collect the kids.)

You don't have to be well educated to be a good TA.

However, being a good TA is hard work, and it's very important work.

Working day in, day out with our youngest and most vulnerable members of society, a TA will shape our children's day and affect their education. Work done in early years learning with a decent TA could affect a child's whole life! A TA is a constant in some children's lives which they don't have at home - they are a familiar face and someone with whom many children build a very trusting relationship.

We expect a TA to be able to help the children with their class work, but in one day as a TA you interact with the children in a million more subtle ways than that. Far more ways than just sorting out bags and helping deliver lessons.

A decent TA will be among the teaching staff who first pick up on signs of abuse and neglect and know how to respond.

It's a unique job which shapes the most important years for our young ones. Done well it's worth more money than the perceived sum of it's parts. It's not a 'x qualification = x worth' sort of job.

I’d be surprised if it’s that high to begin with as most teachers start on £24k but the TAs are paid pro-rata too, so the actual amount they get would be considerably less.

Unfortunately when two people choose to do low paid jobs, they'll always struggle to pay the rent and provide for 3 children.

My sister's a cleaner and when she got engaged to another cleaner she met through work, they knew their wages wouldn't stretch very far.

The wfh jobs don’t usually come with 13 weeks off per year, at the same time as your kids though. (And although some are flexible, many are still 9-5 ish hours so you can’t finish at 3 to collect the kids.)

Plenty of people seem to be having their children at home during the holidays whilst they are working, then going out at 8.45/3.15 to collect them and working again afterwards during term time. They are probably earning somewhat more than a Ta as well, so can outsource some of the childcare in the holidays to clubs etc as well.

It is convenient, most work only the school hours or 10 mins either side. You get the holidays. Majority don’t need any qualifications (never seen a standard TA job needing a degree!).

If money is the issue, leave! There are lots of no/low qual jobs that pay more but then you won’t have the convenience so it’s a compromise unfortunately. Think about paying for childcare through the holidays if you didn’t have those off.

And before anyone comes for me, I used to be a TA. I absolutely loved the job and being with the kids but got sick of all the negativity and moaning from staff, mostly those who have been there for donkeys, don’t do a good job and claim to hate it but won’t leave for the reasons stated above (teachers and TAs). It was constant and just awful.

@NotForMeCheers What planet are you on to think that anyone "chooses" to do a low paid job?
Are you well-off perchance? 😀

So - those saying ''you chose the badly paid work, what do you expect ...?'' sort of thing, do you have kids? Does it cross your mind to be grateful that good people are prepared to work hard with our children every day even though the pay is shit ?

I mean hopefully the gradual decline in people prepared to do this demanding and important job for shit money will mean wages improve eventually; schools are on their knees with lack of funding for staff. But while we're waiting for that we should be grateful to those still plugging away not have the attitude tough titty!

@ToastyBreads - convince is fine if you need it and have another source of income like a partner or benefits.

The bigger question here is why are TA's paid so little that they are unable to support themselves financially?
I mean an average of 1k take home pay / month won't cover rent & food & travel to work ...