New Level 5 apprenticeship to enable specialist training and progression routes for teaching assistants and support staff

A new Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship has been created by an Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) trailblazer group. IfATE have agreed the standard and end-point assessment plan, and recommended a funding band of £12,000, subject to approval by the Department for Education (DfE).

The apprenticeship offers current and new teaching assistants and other support staff the opportunity to study core themes around Advancing Learning, Planning and Assessment, Communication, Professionalism, and Regulation and Guidance.

Significantly, apprentices will develop their specialist knowledge in one of three areas: SEND, Social and Emotional Well-being, and Curriculum Provision.

The qualification will typically take 24 months, but can be completed in 12 months depending on the prior learning and specialist experience of the applicant. Schools and educational settings can use their apprenticeship funding to cover the cost of training.

The Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship:

• Offers a progression route for colleagues wish to build on their current role.
• Creates a much-needed professional development space for support staff colleagues.
• Enables the potential for career enhancement for colleagues who are ambitious to progress beyond Level 5.
• Links enrichment qualifications (subject to funding rules) including the Higher Level Teaching Status, appropriate Foundation Degrees, and specialist curriculum qualifications.
• Can be used to expand and enrich workforce development with a range of formal and informal education settings.

Dr Diane Swift, Co-Chair of the trailblazer group, said:

“We are delighted to introduce the Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship, which we know for many is a long-awaited and welcome development. It supports previously under-served colleagues, including a range of key roles within the education workforce which do not use the phrase ‘teaching assistant’ in their title and yet this apprenticeship will enable high-quality specialist training in such endeavours. This standard seeks to support schools and educational settings to meet learner and staffing needs.

“It is not a universal panacea, but a welcome contribution towards addressing some of the dilemmas the sector faces in relation to its ambitions to develop a well-trained workforce, meeting the needs of vulnerable learners, enhancing their curriculum offer, and increasing the sector’s expertise in relation to social and emotional well-being. It offers a distinctive opportunity through its focus on specialisms, and this will enable providers to develop specific programmes that expand and enrich their current offer.

“We are ambitious that this apprenticeship will create opportunities for colleagues who may not previously have been able to benefit from coherent support and the potential for career progression for those for whom this might be personally and professionally appropriate. It also opens up a productive avenue for schools to gain benefit from their apprenticeship funding.”

Andy Ogden, Co-Chair of the trailblazer group and Director for CPD at Tarka Learning Partnership, explained:

“We hope that the publication of the Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship standard will help to secure a fuller appreciation of the significance of the work of colleagues at this level. Many colleagues have told us that once a practitioner has completed a Level 3 apprenticeship, a significant and valued step in itself, there was not an obvious route for those colleagues who wanted to take their career to the next level whilst continuing in their role. By undertaking this apprenticeship colleagues will develop their ability to reflect on practice in an informed and systematic way through engagement with a range of appropriate evidence.”

Emma Hollis, Chief Executive of the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT), commented:

“The Level 5 apprenticeship recognises the specialised nature of many support roles. This is an exciting development for the sector, and one that enables providers to offer coherent and cumulative training for this often-underserved community. It could be the case that some apprentices will thrive so much on this experience that in the future providers may be able to consider how they build on this apprenticeship by accrediting prior learning and enabling colleagues who wish to, to consider routes into teaching. The important emphasis, however, is on the distinctive recognition this standard gives to support colleagues who wish to stay in their roles and extend their learning.”

Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered College of Teaching, added:

“Teaching assistants play a critical role in supporting teachers, making a significant contribution in supporting the education of young people, particularly those with diverse, and often challenging, special needs and behaviours. It is vital that there are clear opportunities for professional development for support staff, and an apprenticeship route offers exciting possibilities for career enhancement and progression.”

Employers involved in creating the Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship are: Academies Enterprise Trust (now Lift Schools), Academy Transformation Trust, Ambition Institute, Aspiration Academes Trust, Central Bedfordshire Council, Church of England Education Office, DfE, Edsential, Educational and Sporting Futures, Gateshead Council, Ixion, Keele and North Staffordshire Teacher Education, Manor Green School, NCFE, Norfolk County Council, Northumbria County Council, Northumbria University, Nottingham City Council, Phoenix Learning and Care Group, Real Group Ltd, Shaw Education Trust, Somerset Skills and Learning, South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, Tarka Learning Partnership, Tykes Teaching Alliance, Unison, and Walsall College.

Sarah Stephens-Lewis, Assistant Principal for Apprenticeships and Employer Engagement at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, revealed:

“We are delighted to have been part of the trailblazer group responsible for developing the Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship standard. We are enthusiastic about delivering a program that will empower teaching assistants to enhance their practice and advance their careers through a Level 5 apprenticeship. We eagerly anticipate providing support to enable them to offer specialised provision to the pupils they work with. Recognising the sector’s need, we firmly believe that this new apprenticeship will greatly benefit schools in our area.”

Jo Pountney, Director of Educational and Sporting Futures, said:

“It has been a privilege to be part of the trailblazer group to develop this much-needed CPD pathway for our incredible teaching assistant workforce. With focus areas in SEND, mental health and the curriculum, the apprenticeship standard will provide a gateway to the enhanced skills and knowledge our teaching assistants now need to support the growing needs of our young people throughout educational settings.”

Sarah Shreeve, Head of Education Policy for the Church of England, added:

“Teaching assistants are an intrinsic part of our church school communities. We are thrilled that this apprenticeship will be available so that our teaching assistants have another excellent opportunity to develop their practice and their careers, and our pupils will benefit from the best evidence-informed training for staff supporting their learning. The possibility for schools to use the apprenticeship funding to help fund this training is also very welcome in the current financial climate.”