ABSTRACT

One of the most profound changes in UK schools over the past 15 years or so has been the huge and unprecedented increase in support staff in schools. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) TAs in mainstream schools in England has more than trebled since 1997 to about 190,000 (DfE 2011). At the time of writing, (summer 2012), taken together, TAs1 comprise 24% of the mainstream school workforce in England, Wales and Scotland2: 32% of the nursery/primary school workforce; and 15% of the secondary school workforce (DfE 2012b; Statistics for Wales 2011; The Scottish Government (2011). Only 6% of TAs in England and Wales have higher-level teaching assistant (HLTA) status.