Teaching assistant CV example
A teaching assistant CV has to show a school three things: which pupils you worked with, what you did with them, and how you kept them safe. Open with a profile that names your key stages, list each school role with the group, the routine and the record you kept, then give your qualifications with GCSE English and maths grades and your DBS status.
No classroom job yet? See the version built from volunteering and transferable work.
Read the example as text
Profile
Teaching assistant with three years in Key Stage 1 and 2 classrooms. Runs daily phonics catch-up groups and gives one-to-one support to a pupil with an education, health and care plan (EHCP). Follows the school's behaviour and safeguarding procedures and keeps clear progress notes for teachers and the SENCo. Looking for a permanent post in a primary school.
Employment
Teaching Assistant (Level 3) | Wrenfield Primary School, Leeds | September 2023–present
Run 20-minute phonics catch-up sessions each morning for six Year 1 pupils, following the school's phonics scheme.
Support a Year 4 pupil with an EHCP for 20 hours a week, using the visual timetable and movement breaks agreed with the SENCo and parents.
Supervise the class for planned activities when the teacher is out of the room, working from the teacher's plans.
Record reading progress on the school's tracking system and raise pupils who are falling behind at weekly planning meetings.
Report safeguarding concerns to the designated safeguarding lead on the same day.
Midday Supervisor | Wrenfield Primary School, Leeds | January 2022–August 2023
Supervised lunchtime play for up to 90 Key Stage 2 pupils and settled disagreements using the school's restorative questions.
Gave first aid for minor injuries and recorded each one in the accident book.
Sales Assistant | Northgate Home Store, Leeds | 2018–2021
Qualifications and training
Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning (2024)
Paediatric First Aid, 12-hour course (2025)
Annual safeguarding training; read Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, Part one (September 2026)
Seven GCSEs at grades 9 to 4, including English Language 6 and Mathematics 5, Kirkfield High School, Leeds (2017)
Skills
Phonics and early reading support
Small-group and one-to-one interventions
Calm, consistent behaviour support
Basic Makaton signing
Google Classroom, Microsoft Word and pupil tracking software
Additional information
Enhanced DBS certificate for work with children, on the DBS Update Service. References from the headteacher and class teacher available on request.
Fictional example for a teaching assistant. Every person and employer in it is invented. Replace every detail with your own.
What schools look for, and where this CV shows it
| The job asks you to | Where this CV shows it |
|---|---|
| Work with individual pupils and small groups | The phonics group and the one-to-one EHCP support, each with the year group, group size and hours |
| Watch, record and report the progress pupils make | Reading progress on the tracking system, and pupils raised at weekly planning |
| Lead activities with help from the teacher | Supervising planned activities from the teacher’s plans |
| Look after children who are upset or unwell | Lunchtime supervision, restorative questions and first aid recorded in the accident book |
| Keep pupils safe | Same-day reports to the designated safeguarding lead, annual training and the current Part one read |
| GCSE English and maths at grades 9 to 4 | Both grades written out in Qualifications and training |
The left column follows the National Careers Service job profile for a teaching assistant. Where the advert you are answering words a duty differently, use the advert’s words.
- Profile · 58 words
- Employment · 165 words
- Qualifications and training · 52 words
- Skills · 29 words
- Additional information · 22 words
How to write yours
Name the year group and the group size
Write “six Year 1 pupils” or “a Year 4 pupil with an EHCP”, not “supported children”. A school can then see where you would fit.
Say whose plan you followed
Classrooms run on agreed plans: the teacher’s, the SENCo’s or the phonics scheme’s. Naming the plan shows you can be trusted with a group on your own.
Keep every pupil anonymous
Never name a child or describe a diagnosis in more detail than the bullet needs. “A pupil with an EHCP” is enough.
Count lunchtime and club roles
Midday supervisor, breakfast club and after-school club work is school experience. List it with the age group and the number of children.
Checks and qualifications to mention
- GCSE English and maths. Each school sets its own entry requirements, but grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths are usually expected. Write the grades, not only the subjects.
- Enhanced DBS check. Work with children needs an enhanced background check. If your certificate is on the DBS Update Service, say so: an employer can then check it online with your permission. In Scotland the equivalent is PVG scheme membership; in Northern Ireland, an AccessNI check.
- Safeguarding in England. All school staff must read Part one of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, in force from 1 September 2026. Naming the edition shows your training is current.
- Teaching assistant qualifications. Not every school asks for one. A Level 2 or Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning, or a teaching assistant apprenticeship, goes in with its year.
- Wales. If you are registered with the Education Workforce Council, add your registration number.
Keep it to one side of A4 while you have under five years in schools. Shrink older jobs outside schools to one line each so the classroom evidence stays at the top.