The numbers of support staff in schools and the diversity of their roles have increased greatly since 2003. Support staff now outnumber teachers as a proportion of the children’s workforce in schools, and make a huge contribution to the children’s learning, wellbeing and development. Nationally a lead in the development of support staff is taken by the Training and Development Agency (TDA).

TDA identify five broad groupings of support staff:

TDA have developed a career development framework covering the above groups which can be accessed via their website at www.tda.gov.uk

Locally, the Workforce Development Team have produced ‘Opportunities Frameworks’ for support staff indicating career progression, appropriate qualifications, and sources of support and training. Follow the link below to access the relevant pages within this site:

Link to Support Staff pages