Specialist teaching assistant apprenticeship, level 5 · Register title: Specialist teaching assistant (ST1414)
Grow the SEND specialist your pupils need, from inside your own staff
The Growth and Skills Levy covers the training and assessment, and we handle the enrolment and the paperwork. Your apprentice specialises in SEND, social and emotional wellbeing, or curriculum provision, planning and assessing targeted support and applying every theme to the pupils in front of them. They're usually an experienced TA or HLTA, ready to become the specialist your SENCo leans on.
Apprenticeships from level 2 to level 5
What they'll be able to do
Three milestones, ending ready for assessment
Work within SEND regulation and statutory guidance, and use evidence-informed strategies to advance pupils' learning.
Plan, observe and assess, use data to target support, and complete their specialist option in SEND, wellbeing or curriculum provision.
Work as a reflective professional, communicate clearly with families and other professionals, and be ready for end point assessment.
Their learning journey
Six themes, built around your work
Regulations and guidance
Statutory guidance, policy, safeguarding and inclusive practice.
Advancing learning
Evidence-informed strategies, adapting support to individuals and groups.
Planning and assessment
Observation and assessment, and using data to plan targeted support.
Their specialist option
SEND, social and emotional wellbeing, or specialist curriculum provision.
Professionalism
Reflective practice, boundaries and integrity.
Communication
Working with pupils, colleagues, families and other professionals, and preparing for assessment.
Observation and professional discussion
A 90-minute observation in your school with 30 minutes of questions, and a 60-minute professional discussion underpinned by their portfolio. Graded fail, pass, merit or distinction. New starters from 14 December 2026 follow a revised plan, graded pass or distinction.
Every programme works the same way. They learn it, use it in your organisation, then look back at what they did and why.
Know it
Specialist knowledge in their option, statutory SEND guidance, and the theory behind effective interventions.
Show it
Targeted support planned, delivered and evaluated with real pupils.
Live it
Integrity, reflection, and advocacy for the pupils they support.
Who you could put forward
Someone already with you, or someone new
Your most experienced TA or HLTA
Sammy-Jo had already completed her HLTA with us.
A level 3 TA ready for a challenge
Brooke Storey had been qualified for a few years and wanted more.
The TA your SENCo relies on
Someone already doing specialist work, ready to do it with depth and recognition.
A pastoral or wellbeing lead
The wellbeing option is built for them.
You're trusting us with someone from your team. Here's how we look after them.
One trainer-coach from start to finish, who gets to know your setting, the children and your team.
A one-to-one review every month, and a three-way review with you at the end of every theme. Nobody is guessing where they are or what's next.
Learning built around the school day: a blend of on-site visits from their coach and live online sessions, coaching huddles and workshops. No day or block release.
What your organisation gets
Specialist support grown from someone already on your staff
Specialist support without recruiting
The expertise your SENCo needs, grown from someone already on your staff.
Interventions you can evidence
Planned, delivered and reviewed against real pupils' progress.
A career path that keeps experienced TAs
The next step for the people who'd otherwise leave to progress.
Training and assessment are funded from the Growth and Skills Levy you already pay, up to the funding band for this standard. If you don't pay the levy, there's nothing to pay for apprentices under 25, and a 5% contribution for those aged 25 and over.
We check eligibility before you commit to anything. We complete the enrolment, the funding agreement, and the records the rules require, in the format auditors expect.
You get one named account manager, from your first conversation to your last review. If something isn't working, you go to them, and we take it seriously.
The honest answers
Questions people actually ask
At least 418 hours of off-the-job training across the programme. We convert that into hours per week around their role and agree it in writing before anyone starts.
The one that matches the work they do. We agree it with you and the SENCo before they start.
Not always. Experience counts, and we check what they already know at the start.
Training and assessment are funded from the Growth and Skills Levy, up to £12,000. If you don't pay the levy, there's nothing to pay for apprentices under 25, and a 5% contribution for those aged 25 and over. We'll confirm exactly what applies before you commit.
If they move to a new employer, they can carry on their apprenticeship there. Your funding commitment from the Growth and Skills Levy ends when they leave.
Let's begin
Tell us who you'd like to back.
We'll reply within one working day. You'll know whether this programme fits them, what it costs you, and how quickly they could start. No commitment. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Together, let's go