Higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) are members of a school’s support staff who have developed their skills against a set of national professional standards set by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), and undergone assessment to attain HLTA status.  They provide invaluable support to teachers and pupils by bringing specialist knowledge and skills to the classroom.

Nazish commented:

“It has been very rewarding to gain HLTA status and to know that I am making a positive impact on Heald Place pupils’ learning and development. As well as ensuring I have the correct skills and experience, this status has given real structure to my future career.”

As an HLTA, Nazish’s responsibilities can include taking classes under the supervision of a teacher, and giving one-to-one support for children, with a particular focus on numeracy and literacy.  She often works with small groups within a class who have English as a second language to provide them with a greater level of one-to-one support. Nazish speaks English, Urdu and Punjabi fluently so she can help the children communicate and rapidly progress with their literacy skills.

The headteacher, Ranju Martin, said:

“HLTAs are vital in providing that link between the teachers and the pupils in the classroom. Whilst working with teachers, HLTAs can also offer extra support for individual children which means our teachers have more time to do what they do best – teach!”

Minister for schools, Jim Knight, said:

"It is excellent news that schools now have over 15,000 higher level teaching assistants amongst their workforce who can assist teachers across the curriculum. By providing both a skilled resource for the classroom, and consistency to the school, HLTAs are really helping to improve lessons. They free up time for the teacher to do what they do best, teach. This benefits pupils by ensuring teachers are well supported. I congratulate all the HLTAs who create such a strong support team for teachers and schools to work with."

Jill Staley from the TDA said:

"We are delighted at the number of school leaders that are advocates in enabling support staff to develop themselves and deploying them effectively to aid pupils' learning. The TDA will continue to promote the further development of all school staff.”

If you are a teaching assistant and would like to find out more about becoming an HLTA visit http://www.tda.gov.uk/support/hlta

Notes to editors

This news release applies to England only.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools was established under the Education Act 2005 and was formerly known as the Teacher Training Agency. Its principal aim is to secure an effective school workforce that improves children’s life chances.

The HLTA standards were published in September 2003. They are a set of national professional standards and are underpinned by regulations and guidance, in the shape of The Education (Specified Work and Registration) (England) Regulations 2003.

The TDA has published a range of guidance to support the higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) programme, and this has been supplemented by specific guidance on deployment to HLTA roles which has been published by the signatories to the national agreement on Raising standards and tackling workload.  This can be accessed at: www.tda.gov.uk/remodelling.

The TDA is updating the professional standards for HLTAs and is now in the second stage of its consultation.  For twelve weeks, from the 5 March until the 25 May, anyone with knowledge or experience of HLTA status, or with an interest in wider workforce development in schools, is being asked to give their feedback. Staff can do so either in person at one of nine regional workshops, or online, to reflect the changing nature of their schools.  Visit www.tda.gov.uk/ssconsultation to see the draft revised standards and complete the online questionnaire.

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