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National occupational standards

The TDA is the sector body for the school workforce in England and we have worked with partners in other UK countries to develop national occupational standards (NOS) for staff who support teaching and learning in schools. Other sector skills councils (SSCs) or sector bodies (SBs) are responsible for developing standards for roles that are not exclusive to schools, such as administrative staff; we work with these organisations to ensure the needs of schools are taken into account.

The NOS cover most roles in schools, from teaching assistant to cleaner, and can be used to support a variety of training and development activities. The uses of the standards are described in the guidance to the career development framework.

The revised NOS for supporting teaching and learning in schools support transfer and progression between different parts of the children’s workforce by including units from standards, such as those developed for people providing social care for children.  The Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce is now incorporated into the standards. The TDA will continue to work in partnership with the other SSCs and SBs on the Children’s Workforce Network to develop an integrated qualifications framework.

The Sector Skills Development Agency website identifies the SSCs and SBs and their responsibilities; the UK NOS directory includes all NOS and can be searched by keyword.

The TDA led the development of the NOS for supporting teaching and learning in schools, which updated and expanded the standards for teaching/classroom assistants. The NOS also underpin national vocational qualifications (NVQs) and inform the development of other qualifications. You can read more about NVQs on the TDA website.

The TDA also develops and reviews the professional standards for higher level teacher assistants (HLTAs) which are also available on the TDA website.

The support work in schools qualifications include units from a wide range of NOS to allow those working in multiple roles or whose current responsibilities do not allow them to evidence the full NVQ to tailor their qualification to their circumstances.