Schools in England risk losing TAs to supermarkets over ‘chronic’ low pay

As reported in The Guardian, report finds cost of living crisis driving teaching assistants into other work and budget cuts will mean fewer roles

Schools in England risk “haemorrhaging” vital teaching assistants to better-paid jobs in supermarkets and other places because of the cost of living crisis with recruitment becoming increasingly difficult, according to a report.

Headteachers have also said that cuts to school budgets and promised staff pay rises – that will not be funded by the government – will put schools in a desperate situation and many will have to cut TA roles, taking away support for some of the most vulnerable children.

The most effective actions taken by schools to retain TAs were “including them in the school community and school processes, such as lesson planning, and investing in and supporting their development as classroom professionals”, said the report.

“Teaching assistants stepped up during the pandemic and repeatedly proved their worth, as they ​were doing long before the crisis struck,” said Unison’s head of education, Mike Short. “But chronic low pay is threatening to rob classrooms of dedicated, experienced staff, just when schools need them most.”