These are the things employers ask for when they advertise this role, ranked by how often they ask. Measured across 115 learning support assistant adverts, drawn from 358 distinct school adverts.
What governs this role
There is no government framework for teaching assistants, and that is a checkable fact rather than an oversight in this bank. The Department for Education ran a consultation on developing a set of standards for teaching assistants in October 2014. The page still reads "We are analysing your feedback", checked on 11 September 2026, and no outcome was ever published. The Teachers' Standards are not the missing framework either: they set the minimum practice for trainees and teachers to achieve qualified teacher status. What does cover the role is statutory and it is safeguarding. Keeping children safe in education applies to all staff, and the 2026 edition removed the short version of part one, so every assistant now reads the same fifty pages a teacher does.
What employers screen for
Work down this list. The top band is where preparation pays, and every percentage is the share of learning support assistant adverts naming that requirement.
Very likely
Practise these firstOften asked
Worth preparingSometimes asked
Prepare if the advert names itOccasionally asked
Only if it is in your advertThe questions, with the evidence
Tell me about a pupil with special educational needs you have supported.
This question exists because 72.2% of learning support assistant adverts require supporting pupils with SEND.
A strong answer includes
- the pupil's need described in plain terms, without a diagnosis standing in for the person
- the specific adjustment made, and who decided it
- working to the plan the school already has rather than inventing an approach
- what the pupil could do afterwards that they could not do before
Weak answer signs
- talking about the diagnosis instead of the child
- describing support that keeps the pupil away from the lesson rather than in it
- no mention of the class teacher or the SENCO anywhere in the answer
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you support a pupil who cannot access the work the rest of the class is doing?
- Describe how you have worked to a pupil's plan or targets.
- Give me an example of a strategy that worked for one pupil and not for another.
- What would you do if a pupil you support refused to come into the classroom?
Also set out in SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care. Checked 2026-09-11.
Tell me about your experience supporting children in a classroom.
This question exists because 64.3% of learning support assistant adverts require experience working with children.
A strong answer includes
- a named setting, year group and what the work actually involved day to day
- one thing the candidate did that changed something for a pupil
- honesty where the experience is voluntary, family or outside school, with what transfers
- awareness that a classroom already has a rhythm the assistant fits into
Weak answer signs
- listing job titles with nothing about what happened in the room
- claiming school experience that turns out to be one afternoon
- answers about loving children with no example attached
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you describe the part you played in a classroom you have worked in?
- Describe the age group you have worked with most and what that taught you.
- Give me an example of something you learned in a school that you could not have learned anywhere else.
- What would you do in your first week here to be useful without getting in the way?
Tell me about a time your patience was tested at work.
This question exists because 48.7% of learning support assistant adverts require patience and resilience.
A strong answer includes
- a specific moment rather than a claim to be a patient person
- what the candidate did with their own reaction at the time
- coming back the next day without carrying it into the pupil's morning
- knowing when to step out and hand over
Weak answer signs
- claiming nothing ever gets to them
- taking a pupil's behaviour personally
- resilience described as putting up with it
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you keep going with a pupil who has made no progress for weeks?
- Describe a day that went badly and what you did the next morning.
- Give me an example of staying calm when somebody else in the room was not.
- What would you do if a pupil said something personal and hurtful to you?
Tell me about a small group you have run.
This question exists because 47.8% of learning support assistant adverts require small group work.
A strong answer includes
- a group size, a subject and what the pupils were meant to get out of it
- how the session was set up in the first minute, since that is where groups are won
- what was done with the pupil who was ahead as well as the one who was behind
- how the outcome got back to the teacher
Weak answer signs
- describing the group as keeping them busy
- no sense of what the pupils were supposed to learn
- handling the loudest pupil only
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you keep four pupils on task when they are all stuck on different things?
- Describe how you would start a group session so the pupils know what they are doing.
- Give me an example of a group that was not working and what you changed.
- What would you do if one pupil in your group finished in two minutes and another had not started?
Tell me about a time you worked closely with a teacher to support a pupil.
This question exists because 40% of learning support assistant adverts require working with the class teacher.
A strong answer includes
- the split of roles in a real lesson, not a description of teamwork in general
- raising a disagreement with the teacher privately and afterwards
- an example of information flowing back up to the teacher
- acting inside the limits of the role when nobody is available
Weak answer signs
- going over the teacher's head, or contradicting them in front of the class
- waiting to be told everything
- describing the teacher as the person who gives orders
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you handle being asked to do something you thought would not work for a pupil?
- Describe how you and a teacher divided a lesson between you.
- Give me an example of information you passed to a teacher that changed what they did next.
- What would you do if the teacher was busy and a pupil needed a decision straight away?
Tell me about a time you defused a situation with a pupil.
This question exists because 39.1% of learning support assistant adverts require behaviour and de-escalation.
A strong answer includes
- following the school's behaviour policy rather than a personal system
- the early signs and the low-key thing done first
- language that separates the behaviour from the child
- restoring the relationship afterwards, and who was told
Weak answer signs
- escalating, threatening or arguing in front of the class
- physical intervention described casually, with no mention of training
- treating behaviour as naughtiness rather than as communication
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you respond to a pupil refusing to do any work?
- Describe what you notice in the minutes before a pupil loses control.
- Give me an example of a behaviour strategy that did not work and what you did instead.
- What would you do if a pupil walked out of the classroom?
Tell me about a time you explained something a pupil had not understood.
This question exists because 34.8% of learning support assistant adverts require communication with pupils and adults.
A strong answer includes
- changing the words rather than repeating them louder
- checking understanding by asking the pupil to do or say something back
- a handover that is short, factual and in order
- noticing the pupil who never asks
Weak answer signs
- explaining the same way again, more slowly
- chatty handovers with no facts in them
- talking about a pupil in front of them as though they cannot hear
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you explain a pupil's difficult morning to their teacher in thirty seconds?
- Describe how you adapt the way you talk to a pupil who is not following you.
- Give me an example of a message you had to pass on that was hard to word.
- What would you do if a pupil told you something you did not understand and they were getting frustrated?
Tell me about a pupil you supported through something difficult.
This question exists because 28.7% of learning support assistant adverts require emotional wellbeing and SEMH.
A strong answer includes
- a calm start that does not demand an explanation from the pupil
- knowing the limit of the role and who the next person is
- never promising to keep a secret, and saying why in words a child understands
- the routine that helped, rather than one conversation
Weak answer signs
- counselling the pupil
- promising confidentiality
- describing a pupil's family circumstances in an interview with no need to
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you start the morning with a pupil who arrived upset?
- Describe the difference between supporting a pupil and taking on a problem that is not yours to solve.
- Give me an example of when you passed something on rather than handling it yourself.
- What would you do if a pupil asked you to keep a secret?
Tell me about an autistic pupil you have supported.
This question exists because 25.2% of learning support assistant adverts require supporting autistic pupils.
A strong answer includes
- the individual pupil, their profile and what they find hard
- preparation and warning before a change, not reassurance after it
- sensory and environmental adjustments named specifically
- communication that is literal, short and given time to land
Weak answer signs
- autism described as a set of behaviours to manage
- forcing eye contact or insisting on a social convention
- one approach applied to every autistic pupil
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you prepare a pupil for a change to the timetable?
- Describe an environment change you made that helped a pupil settle.
- Give me an example of a time you got a pupil's communication wrong and how you knew.
- What would you do if a pupil became overwhelmed in an assembly?
Tell me about an intervention programme you have delivered.
This question exists because 22.6% of learning support assistant adverts require delivering targeted interventions.
A strong answer includes
- the programme named, the length of a block and how often it ran
- the measure used at the start and the end
- keeping the fidelity of the programme while adjusting the delivery
- what was handed back to the teacher at the end
Weak answer signs
- intervention used to mean any extra help
- no measure of whether it worked
- abandoning the programme because a session went badly
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you tell whether an intervention is working?
- Describe how you would run a session when the programme says one thing and the pupil needs another.
- Give me an example of a pupil who came off an intervention and what happened next.
- What would you do if a pupil missed half the sessions in a block?
Tell me about a pupil who was hard to build a relationship with.
This question exists because 20.9% of learning support assistant adverts require building relationships with pupils.
A strong answer includes
- consistency over weeks rather than a single moment of connection
- an interest in the pupil that is specific to them
- warmth held together with a boundary
- actively handing the pupil on to other adults
Weak answer signs
- being the favourite adult as the goal
- relationships built on letting things go
- no plan for the pupil who rejects you
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you get a pupil who ignores you to work with you?
- Describe what you do in the first week with a new pupil.
- Give me an example of a boundary you had to hold with a pupil you got on well with.
- What would you do if a pupil only wanted to work with you and refused other adults?
Tell me about a task you adapted for a pupil.
This question exists because 20.9% of learning support assistant adverts require adapting work for the pupil.
A strong answer includes
- the same learning kept, the route to it changed
- adaptations made in advance where possible
- checking with the teacher that the learning is still the learning
- removing scaffolding on purpose and at a planned point
Weak answer signs
- giving easier work with a lower outcome and calling it adapted
- an adaptation that singles the pupil out in front of the class
- changing the task without telling the teacher
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you change a worksheet a pupil cannot read?
- Describe how you would keep a pupil on the same lesson as the class when the work is too hard.
- Give me an example of support you removed because the pupil no longer needed it.
- What would you do if the adapted work was so different the pupil noticed and objected?
Tell me about a pupil you supported one to one.
This question exists because 19.1% of learning support assistant adverts require one to one support.
A strong answer includes
- the plan and the targets the support was built around
- deliberate distance, and the reason for it at that moment
- the pupil's relationships with other children and adults, not just with you
- useful work in the classroom when the pupil is not there
Weak answer signs
- sitting beside the pupil doing the task with them
- the pupil becoming unable to work when you are away
- no mention of the plan
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you support a pupil closely without doing the work for them?
- Describe how you would plan a day around one pupil's targets.
- Give me an example of when you stepped back on purpose.
- What would you do if your pupil was absent for a week?
What would you do if a pupil told you something that worried you?
This question exists because 16.5% of learning support assistant adverts require safeguarding and child protection.
Placed here on the statutory duty rather than on advert prevalence. Keeping children safe in education covers every member of school staff, so a panel can ask whether or not the advert mentioned it.
A strong answer includes
- listen, do not question or lead, report to the designated safeguarding lead without delay
- never promising confidentiality, and telling the child what happens next
- a written record made the same day, in the child's own words where possible
- knowing the concern about a colleague goes to the headteacher, and the route if that is not possible
Weak answer signs
- investigating it yourself, or asking the child leading questions
- waiting until the end of the day, or the end of the week
- not knowing what a designated safeguarding lead is
Similar questions (4)▾
- Tell me about a time you reported a concern.
- How would you respond if a pupil asked you to promise not to tell anyone?
- Describe what you would write down after a disclosure.
- What would you do if your concern was about another member of staff?
Also set out in Keeping children safe in education 2026, Department for Education. Checked 2026-09-11.
Tell me about a conversation you had with a parent.
This question exists because 15.7% of learning support assistant adverts require working with parents and carers.
A strong answer includes
- staying inside the role and passing on what belongs to the teacher
- listening first when a parent is upset
- a specific and positive detail about the child
- recording what was said and telling the teacher
Weak answer signs
- discussing another child, or the class, with a parent
- making a promise on the school's behalf
- arguing at the gate
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you answer a parent at the gate asking how their child is getting on?
- Describe what you would do if a parent asked you something you did not know.
- Give me an example of information from a parent that changed how you supported a pupil.
- What would you do if a parent was angry with you about something a teacher decided?
Tell me about the records you kept in your last role.
This question exists because 14.8% of learning support assistant adverts require recording progress and feeding back.
A strong answer includes
- factual records, written at the time, separating what was seen from what was concluded
- a handover that leads with the thing the teacher needs to act on
- knowing what goes in a safeguarding record rather than a progress note
- raising a pattern rather than waiting to be asked
Weak answer signs
- opinion written as fact
- records filled in at the end of the week from memory
- keeping information in your head because you know the pupil
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you feed back on a pupil's session to a teacher who has two minutes?
- Describe what you would write down after a difficult afternoon.
- Give me an example of a note that changed what a teacher or a meeting decided.
- What would you do if you noticed a pattern in a pupil's behaviour over a fortnight?
Are you willing to support a pupil with personal care?
This question exists because 11.3% of learning support assistant adverts require personal and intimate care.
A strong answer includes
- a plain yes or no at the start
- the school's intimate care plan and the practice it sets, including who else is present
- the pupil told what is happening, step by step, whatever their communication level
- recording it, and reporting any mark or change straight away
Weak answer signs
- hesitating and then agreeing
- personal care described casually
- no mention of a plan, a record or another adult
Similar questions (4)▾
- Tell me about personal care you have carried out.
- How would you protect a pupil's dignity during intimate care?
- Describe how you would respond to a pupil who was embarrassed.
- What would you do if a pupil refused personal care from you?
Tell me about hearing a pupil read.
This question exists because 9.6% of learning support assistant adverts require phonics and reading.
A strong answer includes
- the programme named, if there was one, and the school's approach to decoding
- waiting, then prompting with the sound rather than supplying the word
- comprehension checked as well as accuracy
- recording what the pupil could and could not do
Weak answer signs
- telling the pupil the word straight away
- correcting every error as it happens
- no idea what scheme the school uses and no question about it
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you support a pupil who is behind the rest of the class in reading?
- Describe what you do when a pupil gets stuck on a word.
- Give me an example of a reading programme you have delivered.
- What would you do if a pupil said they hated reading?
Tell me about a speech and language programme you have delivered.
This question exists because 9.6% of learning support assistant adverts require speech, language and communication programmes.
A strong answer includes
- the programme or system named, and who set it
- waiting, and saying how long the pause needs to be
- the difference between what a pupil can say and what they understand
- recording progress back to the therapist as well as the teacher
Weak answer signs
- finishing the pupil's sentences
- guessing and moving on
- treating slow speech as slow thinking
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you support a pupil who uses a communication aid?
- Describe how you give a pupil time to answer.
- Give me an example of when you noticed a pupil understood more than they could say.
- What would you do if you could not understand what a pupil was telling you?
Tell me about supporting a pupil with maths.
This question exists because 8.7% of learning support assistant adverts require numeracy support.
A strong answer includes
- using the school's method, learned from the teacher first
- concrete materials used without making a show of them
- a misconception named specifically rather than wrong answers in general
- asking the pupil how they got there
Weak answer signs
- teaching your own method because it is quicker
- doing the calculation for the pupil
- marking the right answer and moving on
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you help a pupil who was taught a method you do not know?
- Describe how you would use apparatus with a pupil who thinks it is babyish.
- Give me an example of a misconception you spotted.
- What would you do if a pupil got the right answer by the wrong route?
How do you avoid a pupil becoming dependent on you?
This question exists because 7% of learning support assistant adverts require building independence rather than dependence.
A strong answer includes
- waiting before stepping in, and naming how long
- prompts that hand the thinking back rather than supply the answer
- a plan to reduce support with dates in it
- the pupil asking the teacher, or a friend, rather than you
Weak answer signs
- measuring your value by how much the pupil needs you
- answering every question the moment it is asked
- no sense that dependence is a risk at all
Similar questions (4)▾
- Tell me about a pupil who became more independent while you supported them.
- Describe what you do when a pupil asks you a question they could answer themselves.
- Give me an example of support you deliberately withdrew.
- What would you do if a pupil said they cannot do anything without you?
Tell me about a time you took the whole class.
This question exists because 4.3% of learning support assistant adverts require covering the class and delivering planned lessons.
A strong answer includes
- delivering the plan that was left rather than improvising something new
- how the room was settled in the first two minutes
- what was left for the teacher to read on their return
- knowing who to call and when
Weak answer signs
- describing cover as babysitting
- teaching a different lesson because the plan looked dull
- no record left behind
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you deliver a lesson left by a teacher who is off sick?
- Describe how you keep a class working when you did not plan the lesson.
- Give me an example of a cover session that went wrong and what you did.
- What would you do if the work left for the class was finished in fifteen minutes?
Tell me about a time you had to keep something confidential.
This question exists because 3.5% of learning support assistant adverts require confidentiality.
A strong answer includes
- a clear line between information shared to do the job and information shared otherwise
- knowing that safeguarding information is shared, not kept
- a polite, final answer to the question at the school gate
- raising it with a colleague, or with a leader, rather than joining in
Weak answer signs
- confidentiality treated as never telling anyone anything
- discussing pupils on social media, or in a staffroom with visitors in it
- naming a child in this interview who does not need naming
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you answer a neighbour asking about a child at the school?
- Describe what you would do if you saw a colleague discussing a pupil in public.
- Give me an example of information you had to share even though it was private.
- What would you do if a parent you know socially asked about another child in the class?
Screening questions
These get asked once and answered factually. There is no clever version of them, and an evasive answer on any of them ends the application.
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check with a children's barred list check. Is there anything on your record we should discuss now?
This question exists because 39.1% of learning support assistant adverts require enhanced DBS check.
A strong answer includes
- a straight answer, given before the check finds it
- the date and status of an existing certificate, and whether it is on the update service
Weak answer signs
- leaving it to the disclosure
- minimising or blaming
Similar questions (1)▾
- Do you hold a current enhanced DBS on the update service?
Do you hold GCSE maths and English at grade 4 or above, or an equivalent?
This question exists because 12.2% of learning support assistant adverts require GCSE maths and English.
A strong answer includes
- the grades, or the level 2 equivalent held instead
- any functional skills qualification named as what it is
Weak answer signs
- not knowing the grades
- describing an equivalent as a GCSE
Do you have the right to work in the UK without sponsorship?
This question exists because 9.6% of learning support assistant adverts require right to work in the UK.
A strong answer includes
- a plain answer, with the document you can produce
Weak answer signs
- ambiguity about visa status
What teaching assistant qualification do you hold, and at what level?
This question exists because 5.2% of learning support assistant adverts require level 2 or level 3 qualification.
A strong answer includes
- the level, the awarding body and the year
- a plain answer where the qualification is in progress
Weak answer signs
- inflating a short course into a level 3
- no answer on willingness to train
Similar questions (1)▾
- Are you willing to work towards a qualification if the school funds it?
Do you hold higher level teaching assistant status?
This question exists because 0.9% of learning support assistant adverts require higher level teaching assistant status.
A strong answer includes
- a clear yes or no, with the awarding route if yes
- the qualification actually held, where status is not
Weak answer signs
- describing a level 3 qualification as HLTA status
- vagueness about whether the assessment was completed
Similar questions (1)▾
- If not, are you working towards it, and what stage are you at?
How we build this
- We analysed 115 learning support assistant adverts, drawn from 358 distinct school adverts.
- We verified against official frameworks where one exists, reading the live source rather than quoting from memory.
- Every percentage on this page links back to what produced it.
Important. These are not leaked interview questions. They are built from real UK job adverts and official employer frameworks, to reflect the requirements employers consistently assess.
What this sample cannot tell you. A third of these adverts name themselves as an employment business or a recruitment agency, and more are agency postings that never say so. That is a fair picture of how teaching assistant jobs are advertised and a skew all the same. An agency advert describes a role type rather than one school's provision, so requirements tied to a particular school are probably undercounted. Special school adverts are 8.1% of the corpus, below the threshold used elsewhere in this repo for a segment of its own.
We do not claim these are the exact questions you will be asked. We measure what UK employers consistently ask for in their job adverts, check it against published assessment frameworks where one exists, and turn those requirements into realistic interview questions. Every question shows where it came from.