Special educational needs (SEN) teaching assistant
Special educational needs teaching assistants (TAs) support teachers to help children with disabilities and special educational needs.
Also known as: Special needs classroom assistant, special needs learning support assistant
- Starter salary£19,000 a year
- Experienced£27,000 a year
- Typical hours24 to 40 a week
What you'll do
As an SEN teaching assistant, you would:
- prepare learning materials
- adapt teaching support to meet each student's needs
- support group and class activities
- look after children's physical, social and emotional welfare
- create a safe and interesting environment for students
- update records and attend review meetings
- work closely with teachers and other professionals like speech and language therapists
Working environment
You could work at a school, at a special needs school or at a pupil referral unit.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- sensitivity and understanding
- to enjoy working with other people
- the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
- to be flexible and open to change
- the ability to understand people's reactions
- excellent verbal communication skills
- active listening skills
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
How to become a special educational needs (SEN) teaching assistant
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- volunteering
- applying directly
College
You could do a college course to learn some of the skills you'll need to find a trainee position.
Examples include:
- supporting teaching and learning in schools
- childcare and education - early years educator
- T Level in Education and Early Years
You may be able to get a placement working with children with special educational needs while doing your course.
Many people get qualifications or experience working with children in mainstream schools, then move on to work with children with special educational needs.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
Apprenticeship
You could apply to do an apprenticeship, such as:
- Early Years Practitioner Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
- Teaching Assistant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
- Early Years Educator Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
- Specialist Teaching Assistant Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship
Entry requirements
Employers will set their own entry requirements.
Volunteering
You could get experience by volunteering in a local school or with a community organisation.
Volunteering is an excellent way to get experience of working with children and young people. It can also help when applying for jobs or training courses.
Direct application
You can apply for special needs teaching assistant jobs if you have experience of working with disabled children or children who have learning difficulties.
You can search for schools in your area then look for job vacancies on their websites.
Each school sets its own entry requirements, though you'll usually need GCSEs grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths.
Contracts are often term-time only and if you're employed through an agency, your pay may be based on a daily rate.
Restrictions and requirements
You'll need to:
- pass enhanced background checks as you may work with children and vulnerable adults
Career path and progression
Your school will support you with specific training, like British Sign Language and Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) courses. They may also provide training on conditions like dyslexia or autism.
With experience, you could train to become a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA).
With further study you could become a fully qualified special educational needs or mainstream teacher. You can learn about routes into teaching from Get Into Teaching .
Career tips
The ability to communicate with children and young people using British Sign Language or Makaton can be helpful, though your employer may offer you training in this.
It's also helpful to understand what kind of support disabled students and those with particular conditions might need, such as assistive learning and communication technology .
Special needs teaching assistant are employed term-time only. A working week can vary from a few hours up to full time.
Advertised pay rates are often listed as full-time equivalent (FTE). Actual pay will depend on the number of hours worked.
You can also search for jobs using the Teaching Vacancies service .
Professional and industry bodies
You could join the National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN) for advice about working in special educational needs and for professional development opportunities.
Guides for this industry
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