What is Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) Status?

The HLTA status was developed to support schools in meeting the requirements of the National Agreement for Raising Standards and Tackling Workload.

Signed in January 2003 by trade unions representing staff working in schools, employers associations and the Government, the National Agreement sets out the requirements that have transformed the school workforce, such as Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time and releasing teachers from performing routine administrative tasks.

Deployment of those awarded HTLA status provides headteachers with a possible solution for implementating aspects of the National Agreement and reforming the school workforce.  

What do HLTAs do?

HLTAs can fulfil a variety of roles dependent upon the context and situation of the school. HLTAs may be asked to work with individual pupils, small groups or  whole classes.

Schools may also consider deploying HLTAs in a much wider range of positions of responsibility for example managing ICT suites, lead behaviour managers, learning mentors etc.

When working with pupils an HLTA's work is always specified by the class teacher, who remains accountable for the overall learning outcomes of the pupils.

Click here for information about work undertaken by HLTAs.