Support Staff Survey

Support staff make up more than half of England’s school workforce, but it is reported that three-quarters of school leaders are struggling to recruit teaching assistants, while support staff are leaving at the highest rate since records began.

The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Ipsos UK to conduct a nationally representative online survey of 9,626 support staff across various roles, complemented by qualitative data from 32 interviews with school leaders. This research serves as a baseline study, forming part of a broader evidence base that the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) can use once established.

Overall job satisfaction among support staff is mixed:

• 63% are satisfied
• 19% are dissatisfied.

Satisfaction varies by role, being highest among administrative and finance staff and midday supervisors/assistants (both 71%), and lowest among TAs and learning support staff (58%). Staff in special schools report higher satisfaction than those in mainstream settings (69%, compared with 63% in primary schools and 61% in special schools).

The interviews found that support staff’s work is greatly valued by school leaders and they are seen as highly important to the effective day-to-day running of schools. A strong link appears to exist between job satisfaction and feeling valued. While most staff feel appreciated by teachers (67%) and leaders (60%), nearly half feel valued by parents and carers (48%) and far fewer feel valued by policy makers (9%).