Are you thinking about becoming a teaching assistant but aren’t quite sure? If you’re looking to get into a career in education, or just want to break out of the regular 9 to 5, read on to discover some of the top reasons you should become a teaching assistant.

1. There are lots of opportunities for progression

When you start out as a teaching assistant you generally (depending on the school) won’t need to have any qualifications, which makes it an excellent entry point for a career in education, but just because you won’t need a qualification doesn’t mean they won’t be helpful. You have the opportunity to get a variety of qualifications that will make you a more valuable and employable member of any school faculty. 

Having your teaching assistant qualification will help you get a position since it’s an extremely competitive role. There are a variety of teaching assistant courses available online that can give you all the knowledge you’ll need in your job. 

As you gain experience, you might want to move onto a higher level position. You could become a SEN teaching assistant, helping students with special educational needs, or you might want to move onto a position as a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA), which will give you more responsibility than standard teaching assistants. You could even progress onto becoming a teacher after gaining valuable classroom experience as a TA and completing further study!

2. The hours work around your life

Since you’ll be working in school, your hours are going to fit around the school day. If you have children, you’ll likely be able to finish at the same or similar time and be able to accommodate their needs.

It’s possible for you to work at the same school your children go to, making the school run much less of a hassle.

Because of school holidays you’re going to get around 12 weeks holiday time over the course of the year, which you’re probably not going to get in most other jobs.

Even if you don’t have a family to think about when considering a job, being a teaching assistant means you’ll be finished early compared to most jobs. You’ll have more free time in the evenings, so if you have any additional responsibilities, another job, or simply want to relax on an evening, you’ll be able to get on with it without worrying about staying late in the day.

3. It’s an extremely rewarding and fulfilling job

In your work as a teaching assistant you’ll get to see the children you work with grow, develop, and overcome their personal challenges with your help. Knowing that you’ve helped to make a difference in these children’s lives can be very rewarding and help to keep you motivated in the job, even when it gets tough!

4. You’ll always be busy, and hardly ever bored

Being a teaching assistant is an extremely dynamic role and you’ll always be doing new things, so don’t worry about it getting boring. What you’ll be doing each day is going to depend on your teacher, the students you’re working with, and the curriculum you’re working on, so it’s hard to say what new challenges each day will bring! 

You could go from working with the whole class one day to working 1:1 the next, you’ll also be heading out on school trips and helping to run a variety of activities too.

5. You’ll help make a difference

Your impact isn’t just going to be limited to helping your students to achieve their potential, your work is going to have a ripple effect on families and in communities. You’ll be helping your school to grow and foster a happy learning environment and not just for your own students, since your work will have an impact around the school!

As your students grow they’ll move onto new things, but you will be a part of their formative experiences, and could have a massive impact on the course of their life.

If being a teaching assistant sounds like it could be for you,  but you aren’t sure you have the right knowhow, try our fully online teaching assistant courses to get the knowledge you’ll need to get into a career in education! Need help looking for a job? Take a look through our available school support jobs.

If you’re looking for more advice on becoming a teaching assistant, be sure to follow our guide on how to become a teaching assistant!