The question we keep hearing from TAs and LSAs: “What do schools actually look for? Every advert says something slightly different and none of them say the same thing as the teacher adverts.”
So we counted. We pulled 500 real UK teaching assistant, learning support assistant and higher level teaching assistant adverts from NHS Jobs and DWP Find a Job, read every one, and counted what UK schools genuinely screen for.
Whether you are an experienced TA looking at a new school, a new HLTA applicant, or moving from care or parenting into a TA role, here is the cheat sheet.
The headline finding: schools screen TAs for safeguarding. They assume their teachers will already know.
Safeguarding appeared in 79% of UK teaching assistant adverts. DBS appeared in 72%. Inclusion appeared in 54%. SEND in 32%.
In our parallel teacher dataset of 113 UK teaching adverts, safeguarding appeared in 18% and DBS in 5%.
That is the single most striking number our research has produced. The same school recruiting two members of staff for the same classroom will screen the assistant heavily on child protection and screen the teacher barely at all. The assumption inside the difference is that QTS-trained teachers will already know. The TA, who often has the most direct hands-on contact with the child, gets the explicit screening instead.
Whether you read that as sensible (the credential covers it) or alarming (the assumption is doing a lot of work), it has a direct CV implication. If you are applying for a TA role, lead with safeguarding. It is the single most-asked attribute in the modern TA advert.
The top 10 things UK schools actually ask teaching assistants for
Ranked by how often each appeared across 500 real adverts:
Top keywords in UK teaching assistant adverts
| Keyword | % of adverts |
|---|---|
| Safeguarding | 79% |
| DBS | 72% |
| Communication | 59% |
| Inclusive practice | 54% |
| Primary phase | 53% |
| Patience | 36% |
| 1:1 support | 34% |
| Flexibility | 34% |
| SEND | 32% |
| Nurture | 31% |
1. Safeguarding: 79%
The single most-mentioned attribute in the modern TA advert. The reference is almost always to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), the statutory guidance schools follow. Name the document explicitly in your summary.
“Familiar with Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024) and the Prevent duty; alert to early indicators of harm and confident escalating concerns to the DSL.”
2. DBS: 72%
Almost three quarters of TA adverts ask explicitly about enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service clearance. State your status in the top third of the CV. If you do not yet hold an enhanced DBS, state your willingness to undergo one. Do not hide this in the references section.
3. Communication: 59%
Generic phrasing does not register. Schools want to see communication evidenced across three audiences: pupils, teachers, and parents or carers. One bullet for each, with a specific example, lands much better than “excellent communication skills”.
4. Inclusive practice: 54%
More than half of TA adverts use the word inclusive or inclusion. The school is signalling a values commitment. In your CV, evidence inclusion through specific examples, supporting a pupil with English as an additional language, adapting a task for a child with sensory needs, scaffolding for a child with social, emotional and mental health needs.
5. The SEND default: 32% SEND, 23% SEN, 13% SEMH, 18% autism, 34% 1:1 support
Combined, these signals point to a structural shift in what TA work has become. The mainstream classroom TA is now expected to bring SEND awareness as a baseline. The SENCO function has dispersed across the staffroom.
If you have any SEND experience, formal qualifications, Team Teach training, Makaton, PECS, autism awareness, EHCP support, SEMH approaches, it belongs in the top half of your CV. Even informal experience (parenting a SEND child, volunteering with a SEND charity) counts. Lead with it.
6. Patience and flexibility: 36% and 34%
These are the behavioural signals that replace experience-based screening. Schools know much of the role cannot be predicted from a checklist. They want temperament. Evidence patience and flexibility with named examples: supporting the same pupil through a difficult term, covering an unfamiliar year group, adjusting plans mid-lesson when a child becomes dysregulated.
7. Nurture and wellbeing: 31% and 27%
Pastoral and emotional support of children is now in roughly a third of TA adverts. Nurture is a specific term referring to nurture group provision and the broader pastoral function. If you have run lunch clubs, supported breakfast clubs, or contributed to a nurture group, name it.
What schools barely ask teaching assistants about
The omissions tell a story too:
- Pedagogy: phonics in 3%, reading in 1%, EYFS in 3%, maths mastery in 8%, literacy in 9%. Schools have stopped quizzing TAs on subject method. The technical pedagogical knowledge has been absorbed into the assumed baseline.
- Lesson planning: 9%. The TA is not expected to plan. The TA is expected to support delivery.
- Leading interventions: 0%. In our entire sample of 500 adverts, the explicit phrase “leading interventions” did not appear. Delivering interventions is implied, but leading is reserved for the teacher.
- Assessment: 6%. TAs are involved in observation and feedback, but formal assessment work belongs to the teacher.
Do not write a teacher CV in miniature. The modern UK TA role has moved sideways toward safeguarding and SEND, not upward toward teaching. Lead with the signals the advert is actually screening for.
Before and after
A TA with two years of mainstream primary experience had this opening:
“Enthusiastic and hard-working teaching assistant with experience supporting children in Key Stage 1 and 2. I am passionate about education and enjoy helping children to reach their potential.”
Tailored against a mainstream Year 3 TA role, with the patterns from 500 real adverts applied:
“Teaching assistant with two years across Years 1 and 3, enhanced DBS on the update service, familiar with Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024) and confident escalating to the DSL. Experienced with 1:1 support including a Year 1 pupil with an EHCP for autism, and trained in Team Teach Level 1. Strong communication across pupils, class teachers and parents at pickup. Available immediately.”
Same TA. Same experience. The difference: every signal a school is actually screening for is in the first three sentences, safeguarding, DBS, EHCP, autism, Team Teach, communication across the three audiences.
What this means for your TA CV
The modern UK TA advert is doing different recruitment work from the modern teacher advert. The TA advert filters on safeguarding, DBS, inclusion, SEND and 1:1 support. The teacher advert filters on leadership, assessment, communication, inclusion and well-being. Your CV should match the filter for the role you are applying for, not the role above it.
Sausage Dog now weaves all of these patterns into TA CVs automatically. Try it free at sausagedog.io. No card needed.
Pair this piece with our analysis of 113 UK teacher adverts, the comparison surfaces the safeguarding gap (79% vs 18%) and the SEND gap (32% vs 5%) at full resolution.
Frequently asked
What is the single most important thing to include in a TA CV?+
A clear safeguarding line. 79% of UK teaching assistant adverts mention safeguarding explicitly and 72% mention DBS. Your CV should reference Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) by name in the summary, and confirm enhanced DBS status (or willingness to undergo one) within the first half of the page. Schools screen TAs harder on child protection than they screen teachers, make it visible early.
Should I list specific teaching methods or curriculum knowledge?+
No. Phonics appeared in just 3% of TA adverts, EYFS in 3%, maths mastery in 8%, lesson planning in 9%. Schools have absorbed the pedagogy into the assumed baseline, they are not screening TAs on subject method knowledge. The exception is SEND-specific approaches (PECS, Makaton, sensory integration), which belong in a CV if you have them. Pedagogy generally? Skip it.
Is mainstream TA work now SEND work?+
Effectively yes. SEND appeared in 32% of adverts, SEN in 23% (overlapping coverage), 1:1 support in 34%, autism in 18%, SEMH in 13%. Combined, more than half of mainstream TA adverts now treat SEND awareness or 1:1 support as a core requirement, not an extra. If you have any SEND experience, formal training, lived experience supporting a SEND pupil, autism-specific approaches, it belongs at the top of your CV.
How is a TA CV different from a teacher CV?+
They screen for different things. Teacher adverts ask for leadership (55%) and assessment (44%). TA adverts ask for safeguarding (79%) and DBS (72%). Teachers face upward expansion in the language of the role. TAs face sideways transformation, toward inclusion, pastoral care and SEND. Your TA CV should not try to look like a teacher CV. The two roles have moved in different directions, and the adverts are screening for that difference.
How long should a TA CV be?+
One to two pages. One page for an applicant with under two years of experience. Two pages for a Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) or anyone with extensive SEND, behaviour, or pastoral experience. Lead with safeguarding, DBS status, your relevant experience with named year groups or SEND profiles, then training (Team Teach, Makaton, autism awareness, mental health first aid).
Do I need teaching qualifications to apply for a TA role?+
No. UK TA adverts rarely ask for formal teaching qualifications. They ask for safeguarding awareness, communication, patience and flexibility. If you have a Level 2 or 3 Supporting Teaching and Learning qualification, mention it. If you do not, lead with experience, paid or voluntary, supporting children or vulnerable adults, and your willingness to undergo enhanced DBS. Many TAs enter the role from parenting, healthcare, care work or community volunteering backgrounds.
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