Your teaching assistants (TAs) are stretched further than ever. In the same morning, they might cover literacy support, special educational needs (SEN) provision and behaviour management. You already know what a good TA does for a classroom. The harder question is how to develop more of them without pulling staff out of school for days at a time.
The real question is what ‘effective’ actually looks like – and how to create this without taking staff out of the classroom. For a growing number of schools, the answer is online training for TAs.
What an effective TA brings to the classroom
A good TA does more than assist; they extend the teacher’s reach into every corner of the classroom.
- Confident classroom presence: managing small groups and individual pupils without needing constant teacher input.
- Curriculum awareness: understanding what’s being taught, not just how to keep pupils occupied.
- Calm behaviour management: de-escalating situations using school policy, not just instinct or good intentions.
- SEN and inclusion knowledge: adapting tasks so pupils with additional needs make genuine progress.
This matters more than it used to. There are now nearly 300,000 FTE teaching assistants working in England’s state-funded schools – an increase of 6,200 on the previous year. TAs aren’t a small addition to the workforce; they’re a growing part of how schools run, and a growing part of the budget too.
The skills gap most schools don’t talk about
Many TAs are appointed for reliability, patience and having a natural way with children. That’s a brilliant starting point. But it doesn’t automatically cover safeguarding law, SEN strategies or how to support literacy in a structured way.
Most schools know this gap exists, but fewer have a consistent way to close it. Training often happens informally, through shadowing an experienced colleague or picking things up as situations arise. That approach works for confidence, but it’s less reliable for the legal and procedural knowledge every TA needs.
The pressure on TAs’ SEN knowledge is rising too. The percentage of pupils with SEN support, excluding those with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, has increased to 14.8% – up from 14.2% the previous year. Every classroom now has more pupils needing a TA who genuinely understands their role.
Without structured training, schools end up relying on informal, patchy knowledge passed between colleagues. It works… until it doesn’t.
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Training that works around the school day
Releasing a TA for a full day of external training means covering their timetable. For most schools, that’s simply not a realistic option.
Online training solves the practical problem. It lets TAs work through structured content in short sessions, around lesson cover, break duties and the rest of the working week.
- No cover needed. TAs can study between tasks, during quieter moments in the school day, or from home – whatever works best for them.
- Consistent standards. Every TA covers the same core content, whatever their previous experience.
- Evidence of staff development. Completed training gives you a clear, dated record for every member of your team.
- Self-paced progress. Staff move through modules at a speed that suits their confidence and workload.
This flexibility is exactly why structured CPD training for teaching assistants has grown so much in recent years. It fits the reality of how schools operate.
It also suits part-time and flexible working patterns. Roughly 8 in 10 teaching assistants in England work part time, according to the DfE. Training that demands full, fixed-length sessions simply doesn’t work for most of that group. But online, self-paced modules do.
How to build a structured TA development pathway
Start with a clear induction standard for anyone new to the role. This applies whether they’ve just learned how to become a teaching assistant, or moved across from another support post. Every new starter gets the same solid foundation.
After induction, add role-specific refreshers on safeguarding, SEN and behaviour. These areas shift with policy and guidance over time, so a one-off course isn’t enough on its own – you might want to set annual refreshers.
Track completion properly, too. If you’re using an LMS with built-in reporting, you’ll have a live picture of who’s trained and who’s due a refresher. You’ll also spot any gaps across the team. That’s far easier to act on than a folder of certificates nobody’s checked in months.
Finally, treat TA development as ongoing, rather than a one-off tick box. The best support staff keep learning because their role keeps evolving, not because a policy told them to.
It also helps to involve TAs in choosing their own next steps. Interests vary – some TAs want SEN training, others want early years or literacy. A flexible course library, rather than a single fixed programme, lets each TA build the knowledge that’s most relevant to their day-to-day role.
Where this leaves you
Effective TAs aren’t born that way. They’re supported into it, with the right structure, the right training and enough flexibility to fit around an already packed school day. Get that right, and you’re not just filling a training requirement, you’re building a support team that makes a real difference to pupils, teachers and the wider school.
Ready to train your team?
Staff Skills academy+ gives your team access to 750+ CPD-certified courses, including Teaching Assistant Certification Level 2. Start a free 14-day trial today, or speak to our team about what works for your school.
