Teaching Assistant Salary
Official ONS earnings for the UK, covering 255,000 jobs.
Median salary
£18,024
gross, per year, all employees
Part-time work is common in this occupation, so the figure above sits 17.8% below the £21,239 median for people working full-time.
▲ 4.4% change on the previous year
Full-time only
£21,239
Part-time only
£15,106
Mean
£17,504
Jobs measured
255,000
What a typical teaching assistant takes home
On the full-time median of £21,239, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£1,568
Take-home a year
£18,812
Income Tax
£1,734
National Insurance
£694
What most teaching assistants actually earn
Half of teaching assistants earn between £13,660 and £21,468. Earning above £21,468 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of teaching assistants earn less than this.
Teaching Assistant salary by region
11 of 11 GB regions have a published figure for this occupation.
| Region | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| London | £21,070 | £19,736 |
| North East | £20,256 | £19,127 |
| North West | £19,258 | £18,742 |
| West Midlands | £18,939 | £17,989 |
| East Midlands | £18,523 | £18,562 |
| Wales | £18,002 | £17,164 |
| Scotland | £17,529 | £17,378 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £17,293 | £16,706 |
| South East | £16,505 | £16,345 |
| East | £15,988 | £15,646 |
| South West | £15,458 | £15,416 |
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Teaching assistants
- SOC 2020 code
- 6112
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Teaching Assistant salary FAQs
What is the average Teaching Assistant salary in the UK?
The median is £18,024 a year and the mean is £17,504, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; full-time employees alone have a median of £21,239 and part-time employees £15,106.
How much does a teaching assistant earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £14.45 excluding overtime, or £14.38 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only.
What is a good Teaching Assistant salary?
Half of teaching assistants earn between £13,660 and £21,468. Anything above £21,468 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a teaching assistant?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of teaching assistants earn under £9,046 and the lowest quarter under £13,660 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
How much do the highest-paid teaching assistants earn?
The top 10% of teaching assistants earn more than £25,152 a year, and the top quarter more than £21,468. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Which part of the UK pays teaching assistants the most?
London, at a median of £21,070, is the highest of the 10 GB regions with a precise ONS estimate; South West is the lowest at £15,458. Regions where ONS marks the figure as imprecise are not ranked.
Has teaching assistant pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +4.4% for this occupation in the UK. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many teaching assistants are there in the UK?
ASHE counts around 255,000 employee jobs in “Teaching assistants” (SOC 6112) in the UK. Self-employed work is not included.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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