What does an HLTA do?

A higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) works at a level just below a qualified teacher. HLTAs plan and teach parts of lessons, take whole classes when the teacher is out, lead intervention groups and often manage other TAs. The role normally needs HLTA status, which is awarded after an assessment against national standards, and posts are graded several points higher on the council pay spine than ordinary TA jobs.

Day-to-day work

In many primary schools the HLTA covers planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time. Teachers are entitled to time out of class for planning, and someone has to take the class while they are away, so an HLTA might teach PE, music, languages or a block of afternoon lessons each week to several classes in turn. In secondary schools HLTAs more often lead small-group work in English or maths, run a learning support base, or cover lessons when teachers are absent.

Typical tasks include:

• teaching a whole class from a plan agreed with the teacher, or from the HLTA’s own plan
• running catch-up and intervention groups and tracking the results
• assessing pupils’ work and feeding back to the class teacher
• supervising and training other teaching assistants
• covering short-term teacher absence

The class teacher stays accountable for pupils’ overall progress. HLTAs work within a framework set by the headteacher, so the exact boundaries of the job vary from school to school.

HLTA status and how you get it

HLTA status is awarded once you show that you meet the professional standards for higher level teaching assistants. The process usually involves a short preparation course, a written portfolio of evidence from your work, and a visit from an assessor who talks to you, your headteacher and sometimes the teachers you work with. Schools usually put forward TAs who already have a Level 3 qualification and good GCSEs in English and maths, and many training providers ask for those as entry requirements.

Your school normally has to support the application, because the assessment needs evidence of you teaching groups and whole classes. Fees and course length vary by provider. Our guide on how to get HLTA status goes through the steps and the standards.

How the pay grade compares with a TA

There is no single national HLTA salary. In maintained schools in England and Wales, support staff are paid on the NJC pay spine through each council’s grading structure, and many academies follow the same spine. An HLTA post is graded higher than a Level 3 TA, but the exact points depend on the employer’s job evaluation.

The 2026/27 NJC award added 3.3% to spine points 3 to 43 from 1 April 2026. To show the gap between grades, here are some full-time, full-year figures:

Spine point	Full-time salary 2026/27
SCP 8	£27,709
SCP 12	£29,542
SCP 17	£32,046
SCP 20	£33,673
SCP 23	£35,570

These values are worked out from the 2025 spine plus 3.3%, so check them against the employer’s own pay scale. The full spine is in our NJC pay spine guide.

Like most school support jobs, HLTA posts are usually term-time only. You are paid a percentage of the full-time figure that covers the weeks you work plus holiday pay, and then a further reduction if you work under 37 hours. On the NJC worked example, 39 weeks with a 36-day leave entitlement comes to 86.778% of full-time pay before the hours adjustment. See term-time-only pay, and the take-home pay calculator to see what reaches your bank account.

Where the role stops

An HLTA does not hold qualified teacher status and is not paid on the teachers’ pay scales. Under the teachers’ pay and conditions framework, support staff can do specified work such as planning and teaching lessons and assessing pupils only where the headteacher is satisfied they have the skills and work under the direction of a teacher. The detail of supervision is up to the school, which is why some HLTAs teach a class every afternoon and others only lead groups.

Cover is the part of the job people most often find stressful, especially at short notice and with classes they do not know. Ask at interview how much of the timetable is PPA cover and how much is unplanned absence.

HLTA compared with cover supervisor

The two jobs overlap. A cover supervisor supervises a class doing work the teacher has already set and does not usually teach new content. An HLTA is expected to teach and plan. Many secondary schools have both, while primary schools rely more on HLTAs.

From HLTA to teaching

A lot of HLTAs go on to train as teachers. That needs a degree, followed by a route to QTS such as salaried School Direct, a postgraduate teaching apprenticeship or a PGCE. People without a degree sometimes study part-time while working as an HLTA. Current posts are listed under teaching assistant jobs, usually advertised as HLTA or senior TA.