ABSTRACT
Teaching assistants (TAs) are big news. Over the last five years, their importance has been recognised. There are few schools that do not have them, although they may call them by different titles and utilise them in different ways. The government has put considerable resources into the recruitment, training and support of systems for professional and career development, including facilitating pathways to teaching for those who wish it. One of the ways in which TAs received national recognition was by the commissioning of National Occupational Standards (NOS), now available for most employees in recognised jobs. For TAs, these were first published in the summer of 2001 after considerable consultation by the firm contracted with the task, Miller West Ltd (LGNTO 2001).
