This DfE report examines the reasons schools use TAs, the roles they fulfil, the barriers and enablers to the effective use of TAs, and their perceived impact on pupil outcomes in different school phases and settings across England.
The findings indicate the roles and responsibilities of TAs have increased significantly in recent years. TAs perform a variety of tasks to support teaching and learning in addition to what might be thought of as traditional activities, such as maintaining classroom space and preparing resources.
This frequently includes whole class, one-to-one and small group support delivered both in and outside of the classroom to pupils with identified needs. This is most commonly pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), which includes those with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, but also includes a wide variety of other pupils. For many TAs, their roles and responsibilities extend beyond supporting pupil learning and include pastoral and non-classroom activities such as administration and pre-school, break and lunchtime duties as leaders seek to fully utilise the capacity and expertise that they offer.
Significant variation in what tasks TAs are expected to perform as part of their role is evident both across and within settings as responsibilities evolve in response to the individual needs of schools. Job descriptions differ, exacerbated by multiple people being involved in the management and monitoring of TAs in larger schools, especially secondaries.
Only a minority of teachers report that they have received any training about how to deploy TAs effectively in the classroom, leaving them to independently navigate the demarcation of teacher and TA responsibilities.