Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship
.png)
Duration: 24 months|Start month: September 2026, subject to approval*
Employer Information
Partnering with Liverpool Hope University to offer our Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship allows you to shape your future workforce. Whether you are a local authority school, an academy trust or an independent school, this programme offers a cost-effective route to developing higher-skilled teaching support staff.
Why support a Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprentice?
Our practice-focused curriculum has been designed to support the growing employer demand for highly skilled classroom support. By embedding this advanced learning within your organisation, you will experience immediate school benefits:
- Grow your own talent: Provide an accessible professional development pathway by upskilling existing teaching assistants or bring in new talent ready to take their educational expertise to the next level.
- Address critical skills gaps: Equips staff to act specialists, helping your school tackle specific area demands or provide dedicated support for learners.
- Work-ready graduates: Because our apprentices continuously integrate high-level academic research with on-the-job training, they develop advanced pedagogical knowledge and behavioural management strategies to secure high-quality outcomes for all learners.
- Professional compliance: The course is meticulously structured into modules that comprehensively cover all required Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours (KSBs) strictly aligned to the national Specialist Teaching Assistant apprenticeship standard.
Your commitments as an employer
To ensure the success of the apprentice, employer partners are expected to:
- Pay the apprentice’s salary.
- Release the apprentice for their scheduled off-the-job teaching and learning activities (typically 1 day per week).
- Provide opportunities for the apprentice to plan, implement, and adapt learning activities while assigning a dedicated workplace mentor to guide them.
- Fund the programme via the Growth and Skills Levy or through government funding support.
Please view our Support and Funding tab for further details on funding available to you as an employer.
Support LHU provides:
- Onboarding assistance: Expert advice and dedicated support from our Apprenticeships team throughout the application and onboarding process.
- Financial guidance: Clear advice and support regarding government incentives, funding availability and digital levy accounts.
- Dedicated Skills Coach: A qualified Skills Coach assigned to your apprentice to oversee their academic progress, practice-based learning and overall wellbeing.
- Mentor support: Advice, guidance and dedicated resources for your wider team, including your school-based workplace mentors.
Ready to address your workforce priorities? Email: apprenticeships@hope.ac.uk | Call: 0151 291 2281
...or complete the form below to receive your employer essentials guide:
About the Course
The Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship at Liverpool Hope University offers a blend of academic excellence and practical training, designed to support the education of learners by providing high-level, specialist support.
Specialist teaching assistants plan, implement, and adapt activities to advance learning, drawing on current research to develop a critical understanding of their chosen area. They establish vital relationships with learners, families, and external agencies to foster a sense of inclusion and belonging. Furthermore, they contribute to the evaluation of learning activities, reflect on their own practice, and support the professional development of their peers.
Overview
This apprenticeship programme seeks to support the employer demand for more higher skilled teaching assistants. The programme is structured into 4 x 30 credit modules each year designed to cover all of the required KSBs and duties for the Specialist Teaching Assistant standard. This Level 5 apprenticeship is a practice-focused learning programme that integrates on-the-job and off-the-job training, delivered flexibly to accommodate workplace responsibilities.
The programme is designed over two years and upon successful completion, learners will receive a Foundation Degree alongside the L5 Apprenticeship standard at the end of the programme.
Specialisms and 2026 Delivery
Apprentices typically specialise in one of three pathways. For the 2026 intake, Liverpool Hope University will be delivering the SEND specialism. We remain open to considering the delivery of the alternative pathways should there be sufficient interest from our partner schools and providers.
- SEND Specialist (current focus): Supporting the implementation of SEND policy, processes and procedures to directly advance learning for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
- Social and Emotional Well-being Specialist: Focusing on policy and procedures that support learners’ emotional health and well-being to advance learning outcomes.
- Curriculum Provision Specialist: Providing support for learners in a specialist curriculum or subject area, such as early reading or maths interventions, Forest School provision, or support for learners with English as an Additional Language (EAL).
Please note: While our primary delivery for the 2026 academic year is dedicated to the SEND specialism pathway, we welcome enquiries regarding the Social and Emotional Well-being and Curriculum Provision specialisms. We are happy to review our provision should there be a viable cohort of interest for these areas.
Safer Recruitment Statement
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and/or vulnerable adults, and we expect all trainees to share this commitment. All successful applicants will be subject to appropriate pre-course checks in line with DfE requirements, including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, verification of identity, and references.
Further information
To apply or for more information please contact:
Email: apprenticeships@hope.ac.uk
Tel: 0151 291 2281
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the programme of study information. Changing circumstances or changing requirements of external regulators and/or accreditation bodies may necessitate alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. The University reserve the right to make changes if such action is considered by the University to be necessary.
Faculty Information
The Level 5 Specialist Teaching Apprenticeship is taught by the academic team in the School of Education under the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences.
Accreditation
*What does ‘subject to approval’ mean? This course is ‘subject to approval’ which means it is in the last stages of the approval process, awaiting final approval from Liverpool Hope University. Approval is a rigorous process undertaken with academic staff, students, independent subject experts and employers to ensure the course is of high quality, and able to prepare students well for their future employment or further study.
Curriculum Overview
Year 1 (Level 4)
Year 1 will introduce apprentices to the fundamental skills involved in developing specialist knowledge and critical understanding to plan, implement, evaluate and adapt learning activities that advance pupil learning under appropriate supervision. Apprentices will begin to implement, monitor and critically evaluate strategies that secure high-quality outcomes for all learners while responding to individual needs and prepare to anticipate and manage behaviour effectively.
Modules include:
- Module 1 - (30 Credits) Professional Collaboration and Safeguarding
- Module 2 - (30 Credits) Introduction to Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
- Module 3 - (30 Credits) Inclusive Practice and SEND
- Module 4 - (30 Credits) Behaviour Management and Positive Learning Environments
Option specialisms:
- SEND specialist teaching assistant*
- Social and emotional well-being specialist teaching assistant
- Curriculum provision specialist teaching assistant
Note: *Liverpool Hope University will be delivering the SEND specialism for this programme in 2026. However, we remain open to considering the other specialisms should we receive sufficient interest from our partner schools and settings.
Year 2 (Level 5)
Year 2 will build on the initial skills taught in Year 1 and enable apprentices to apply specialist knowledge and understanding to support and advance learning within their chosen specialist area under appropriate supervision. Apprentices will begin to promote positive values and behaviours that support learners’ health, well-being, inclusion and engagement in learning and demonstrate reflective practice, critically evaluating their professional practice to improve teaching and learning support.
Modules include:
- Module 5 - (30 Credits) Advanced Teaching Support and Specialist Practice
- Module 6 - (30 Credits) Inclusive Strategies and Advanced SEND Support
- Module 7 - (30 Credits) Reflective Practice and Continuous Improvement
- Module 8 - (30 Credits) Professional Practice in Context
Option specialisms:
- SEND specialist teaching assistant*
- Social and emotional well-being specialist teaching assistant
- Curriculum provision specialist teaching assistant
Note: *Liverpool Hope University will be delivering the SEND specialism for this programme in 2026. However, we remain open to considering the other specialisms should we receive sufficient interest from our partner schools and settings.
Delivery
Apprentices will typically spend 2 years (24 months) on the apprenticeship course working towards the Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship standard with the Apprenticeship Assessment taken in the last 3 months.
Apprentices will engage in ‘off-the-job’ teaching and learning activities one day a week. Taught content will be delivered through face-to-face sessions including scaffolded reflection, examples and exemplification of practice, school based training plan, instructional coaching and deliberate practice.
Apprentices and their line manager/workplace mentor will be supported by a University Skills Coach. The Skills Coach will meet with the apprentice and line manager/mentor at least four times per year, to support and monitor progress towards the Apprenticeship Standard.
Entry Requirements
|
To apply to the Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant apprenticeship, you must have first gained employment within a relevant job role and support from your employer. Please ask your line manager to Contact us for a discussion / to begin the application process. |
Standard Entry Criteria
Applicants must achieve a minimum of 96 UCAS points for entry onto this course. UCAS Tariff points can be made up from a range of qualifications. A Level 3 Teaching Assistant qualification will also be accepted for entry onto the Level 5 programme.
Alternative Assessment
Admission can be considered via successful completion of an alternative assessment for applicants who do not meet the standard entry requirements.
- Apprenticeships Alternative Assessment Process and Entry Requirements
- Apprenticeships Alternative Assessment Guidance Notes
- Apprenticeships Alternative Assessment Marking Criteria
Subject Requirements
English and Mathematics
Before applying, you must possess:
- A grade C/4 (or equivalent) in the GCSE examinations in English and Mathematics.
Where applicants do not have a relevant GCSE at grade 4 or equivalent qualification, you can take a GCSE equivalency test prior to the course commencing. If English is not the applicant's first language, they will also need IELTS of 5.5 - 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any band (or equivalent).
Please note: Applicants who would like to progress onto the Level 6 Teacher (Primary) Degree Apprenticeship following completion of this course will also need to meet the science criteria by the point of finishing the course. The requirement is grade C/4 (or equivalent) in the GCSE examination in a science subject.
Additional Requirements
Offers will be subject to successful interview, as well as a Health Check Statement and an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Eligibility
The apprentice and employer must ensure the following criteria is met to be eligible for funding. If you don’t meet these requirements contact us before applying:
- You will be aged 18 or over before you start your course.
- You are a UK citizen with the Right to Work and Study in the UK (or you are a Non UK citizen with the Right to Work and Study in the UK).
- You are currently in employment in England and will spend at least 50% of your working hours in England over the duration of the apprenticeship, and you are not self-employed.
- You are not planning to leave the UK within the next 12 months (excluding holidays).
- If you’ve already undertaken an apprenticeship, you will have completed and left that apprenticeship before undertaking this apprenticeship with Liverpool Hope University.
- This apprenticeship with Liverpool Hope University will not duplicate training or assessment you have already received from another source - not already being funded by the Department for Education or any other government department for any other training or education.
Assessment
The Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship will be required to compile a portfolio of evidence, containing evidence related to the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours acquired during the on-programme period of the apprenticeship.
This portfolio will be presented during the final Apprenticeship Assessment, when their employer agrees they are ready, and assessed by professional discussion with an external assessor. It will typically contain 15 discrete pieces of evidence which can include sources such as case studies, annotated plans and assessments of children, research tasks, to name a few. Evidence must be mapped against the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours outlined in the Apprenticeship Standard.
The apprentice will also be assessed by the external assessor through a lesson observation.
Apprentices will apply literacy skills through written assignments, reflective accounts, professional discussions and communication with pupils, colleagues and families. Numeracy skills will be developed through activities such as supporting pupils’ mathematical learning, interpreting data on pupil progress, and using numerical information to monitor and evaluate outcomes.
Support
Apprentices will be eligible for a range of support offered by Liverpool Hope University, including:
- Student Support including Learning Support, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Counselling
- Careers and Employability including job opportunities, career support and further study information.
Apprentices will also be able to obtain a student ID card to benefit from student offers and discounts including discounted annual gym and sports membership at our Hope Park Sports centre.
Funding
Maximum Funding: £12,000 (dependent on individual assessment).
Apprenticeships are paid for by the employer.
For employers with a payroll below £3 million:
The Government will pay 95% of the cost of the apprenticeship training and assessment for apprentices of any age, for employers who will not be paying the apprenticeship levy. Employers would pay a £20 monthly contribution. Employers may also be eligible for extra employer incentives.
If your apprentice is 25 years old or under, 100% of the course fees are Government funded.
For employers with a payroll above £3 million:
Since May 2017 employers can use their Apprenticeship Levy contributions towards the cost of the apprenticeship using their digital account, covering 100% of the course fees. Liverpool Hope University will agree to a payment schedule and discuss funding availability before an apprenticeship course commences.
After 12 months, employer levy funding expires. We encourage employers to allocate these funds strategically to avoid loss of investment in workforce development.
Other Incentives:
- National Insurance break: Save money by not paying Employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions for apprentices under the age of 25.
- £1000 incentive payment: Employers receive this incentive payment when they employ apprentices aged 16-18 or 19-24 who are care leavers or have a EHC plan.