Teaching assistants have a vital role, and as the number of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and complex needs continues to rise, TAs can also be important for helping schools to maintain inclusivity despite resource and staffing constraints.
But supporting TAs to have the greatest impact isn’t always straightforward, as the Education Endowment Foundation explores in its newly updated Deployment of Teaching Assistants guidance report.
It takes careful planning and a strong focus on high-quality teaching, which remains the most effective way to support all students. When deployed well, TAs should supplement, rather than replace, teachers, helping to create a learning environment where every student thrives.
Making the most of teaching assistants
So where do schools sometimes need to think differently when it comes to TAs and high-quality teaching? And what practical steps can they take to support better practice?
1. Overreliance on one-to-one support
It’s common to see TAs working one-on-one with specific students for long periods, often known as “the Velcro model”. While this can seem helpful, it may reduce those students’ access to high-quality teaching. Instead, TAs should be used to prepare students for learning and reinforce key concepts.
You can work with your TAs to do this effectively by pre-teaching concepts, vocabulary and skills before they’re introduced in class, which can help students to engage more confidently with new material. You can also facilitate flexible group work where TAs support different groups during a lesson while the teacher provides instruction to others.
By shifting away from long-term, one-to-one support and towards structured, evidence-based approaches, TAs can have a much greater impact on student progress.
2. Taking students out of class too often
TAs are often deployed to deliver targeted interventions outside the classroom, and while these can be beneficial, schools must make sure that they don’t come at the cost of valuable lesson time. Any intervention that takes a student out of class must have a clear purpose and provide at least as much value as the teaching they miss (and ideally more).
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To get this balance right, schools should choose evidence-based interventions that have a proven track record of success; stay informed about best practices by engaging with the latest research on effective interventions; and monitor an intervention’s impact by assessing whether it is leading to meaningful improvements and making adjustments if needed.
The goal should be to supplement classroom learning rather than replace it. Well-planned interventions should connect directly to what students are learning in class, ensuring a joined-up approach.
3. Overdependence on TA support
While TAs can provide essential support, there’s a risk that some students become too reliant on them. When this happens, students may struggle to develop the independence and resilience they need to succeed in their learning. To prevent this, schools should focus on ways that TAs can support students’ self-sufficiency.
Some effective strategies include modelling how to answer a question initially but over time moving to providing a clue to how students might find their own way to the answer; encouraging self-reflection by prompting students to think about their learning with questions like, “What worked? What didn’t? What would you do differently next time?”; and providing structured scaffolds - such as verbal, written or visual aids -- that can be gradually removed as students gain confidence and competence.
When TAs step back at the right moments and encourage students to take ownership of their learning, they help to build independence rather than dependence.
Above all, thoughtful planning, ongoing professional development and evidence-informed strategies will help to ensure that TAs contribute effectively to a high-quality, inclusive learning environment. When deployed strategically, TAs don’t just provide support, they help to create the conditions for all students to succeed.
Emily Yeomans is co-CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation
