Posted by: CTC Training

Teaching assistants can enhance their skills, increase their salary and gain more responsibilities by progressing into the Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) role.

HLTA is the natural progression from a TA and can be achieved with CTC Training’s online learning platform. In this article, we’ll discuss the additional responsibilities of an HLTA, their expected salary increase and how you can work towards becoming an HLTA today.

what is the difference between a TA and a HLTA

What are the responsibilities of an HLTA?

By completing the higher level teaching assistant course, teaching assistants acquire skills and knowledge that can enable them to take on extra responsibilities in the classroom. In addition to all the responsibilities of a standard teaching assistant, a higher level teaching assistant may also:

Teach classes on their own
Cover planned absences
Manage other learning support staff

Plus, you’ll be rewarded with a higher salary for taking on additional responsibilities.

How much more can an HLTA earn?

Full-time, permanent TAs can expect to earn the following salaries:

Level 1: £17,364
Level 2: £18,000-20,000
Level 3 and those with additional specialisms or SEN responsibilities: £25,000+

Higher level teaching assistants are those who have advanced to level 2 or level 3. It’s important to remember that salaries will vary from school to school.

So exactly how much will an HLTA make?

The median salary for an HLTA in the UK is £23,400 yearly or £12 per hour. The most experienced workers can make up to £28,917 per year.

How can I become an HLTA?

We highly recommend earning the Level 4 Certificate in Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) to progress in your teaching assistant role.

The HLTA is composed of seven mandatory units:

Understand the Higher Level Teaching Assistant role
Child development and welfare
Awareness of special educational needs
Promoting positive behaviour in children and young people
Providing support for individual learners and small groups
Developing skills to promote positive working relationships
Curriculum planning, delivery and assessment

This course requires you to be observed working in a school with children, so you’ll need to already be working or volunteering as a teaching assistant to complete it.

Full requirements include:

Be at least 16 years of age
Have good literacy skills
Work in a school as a TA for at least 12 hours per week
Have at least 50 hours of classroom experience

Enrol with CTC Training and you can complete the online portion of the qualification at your own pace. Learners have 12 months to complete the course and can view course content or upload assessments at their leisure.

Take the next step in your teaching assistant career today. Enrol on a course or contact our team for more information.

About CTC Training

CTC Training provides professional development and education courses for businesses and individual learners. They are market leaders in online learning. CTC Training's wide range of courses offer valuable qualifications in areas such as education, assessment and vocational training.

Find out more