New apprenticeship for teaching assistants and support staff

^{Image credit Knebworth Primary and Nursery School (working with Educational and Sporting Futures).}

A new Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship has been created by an Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) trailblazer group.
 
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.
 
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.”

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.”

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).