CAREER PROFILE

What does a Teaching Assistant actually do?

The honest version — real salaries, real hours, real entry routes. From the CourseThread Career Atlas.

Starting salary — log in
Mid-career salary — log in
30–37 hrs (term time)
Typical week
AI: Low
AI vulnerability

The short version

Teaching assistants support learning in the classroom — interventions, SEN support, behaviour backup — on term-time contracts. No degree needed. The catch is pay mechanics: adverts show a full-time-equivalent figure that's 15–30% higher than what actually lands in your account once hours and school weeks are pro-rated. Ask for the real number.

Demand is solid — SEN caseloads keep growing — and it's the best low-stakes way to test whether teaching is for you. AI can't touch the relational core of the job.

Entry routes that actually work

  • Level 3 TA apprenticeship — earn while you qualify.
  • Level 2/3 qualification + volunteering — the classic route.
  • Direct application — schools hire on GCSEs and experience, then train you.
  • HLTA — the pay ceiling inside the role; beyond that, teacher training.

Read the full guide — free

The complete Teaching Assistant profile — salary by year, honest day-in-the-life, AI vulnerability breakdown, and the exit-path map — is in the Career Atlas. Log in to read it online or download the PDF.

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Free account. No card. The Atlas is free to read and download.

Inside the full guide

Money & progression — salary bands by level, sources cited
Day in the life — a real Tuesday, not the brochure version
AI vulnerability — what AI does, can't do, and how the role is changing
Exit paths — where people go at 2, 5, and 10 years

Compare with

Primary TeacherSecondary TeacherEarly Years Educator / Nursery WorkerSEN Teacher / SENCOFurther Education LecturerSchool Careers Adviser