Fund £20,000 a year (term time) wage for Teaching Assistants

Up Teaching Assistants' pay to a minimum of £20,000 a year (term time) to reflect the amount of work they do. It's not just displays and marking. It's challenging behaviour, teaching, marking, first aid, displays, emotional coaching and supporting children with SEN.

We believe that Teaching Assistants' job roles have changed massively over the years. It used to be that we were in to do photocopying, displays and some marking. We feel that now, many TAs must deal with a lot of children with SEN on a daily basis, without reflective pay for that. We mark, we teach, we problem solve, we deal with sick children, we work with small groups of children, we do multiple interventions, we read daily, we coach children on how to manage emotions.

Teaching Assistants (TAs) play an important role in supporting children to achieve and thrive in schools.

That is why the Government is establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB). Establishing the SSSNB was a manifesto commitment and is an important part of delivering both the government’s Plan to Make Work Pay and Opportunity Mission.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 provides for the establishment of the SSSNB. The SSSNB will be a new statutory body specifically for school support staff. Its purpose is to bring employers and employee representatives together to negotiate minimum standards for pay and conditions for school support staff, including TAs, in all state-funded schools in England. It will also advise on training and career progression for school support staff.

Where new minimums are set, those currently below them will see their terms improved, while those already on more favourable terms will retain them. No member of support staff will therefore see a reduction in pay, terms or conditions as a result of these reforms. At the same time, employers will retain the flexibility to offer more than the statutory minimum, enabling them to respond to local needs and labour market conditions. The introduction of national minimum pay and conditions through the SSSNB represents a significant step forward, creating a baseline of consistency and protection across the workforce for the first time.

Secondary legislation will be required to commence and constitute the Body, and the SSSNB is expected to be established in autumn 2026.