Teaching assistant CVs most often fail for one of two reasons. Either they list classroom duties — 'supported the teacher', 'helped with reading', 'supervised at break' — without ever showing the difference made to pupils, or they bury the things a head or SENCO scans for first: safeguarding awareness, an enhanced DBS and relevant training. The fix is to lead with impact on children and to make the reassuring details easy to find.
What schools want
Schools hiring a teaching assistant are looking for support for learning and behaviour, safeguarding awareness, reliability, and the right training for the role. They want someone who can help pupils make progress, stay calm when a class or an individual is having a hard day, turn up consistently, and work sensibly under a teacher's direction. The more clearly your CV speaks to those needs, the stronger it reads.
Lead with impact on pupils
Duties describe what you were there to do; impact shows what changed because you were there. Wherever you can, point to progress supported, interventions run, or confidence and attendance that improved. You do not need to pretend you have hard data you were never given — schools understand that a TA rarely owns the assessment figures. Concrete, honest examples of what pupils could do afterwards are far more convincing than 'passionate about helping children learn'.
Safeguarding and DBS
Safeguarding is the first thing a school needs to trust in anyone working with children. Make your safeguarding awareness clear — any training you have done and the fact that you understand your responsibilities — and state that you hold an enhanced DBS (or are willing to obtain one). Putting this where it can be seen quickly reassures a school and removes an obvious question before they even call you.
Relevant qualifications and training
List the training that matters for the role: a CACHE or NCFE Level 2 or 3 Teaching Assistant qualification, phonics training, paediatric first aid, and any SEN training. A short, clearly headed section — near the top if a qualification is essential to the advert, or after your experience if it is not — keeps it easy to scan. Include the level and, where useful, the awarding body, but keep it factual rather than padded.
SEN and 1:1 support
If you support pupils with special educational needs or work one-to-one, name that experience clearly and sensitively. Describe the kind of support you provided and the approach you took, without disclosing anything that could identify a child. Schools recruiting for SEN or 1:1 roles are looking for exactly this experience, so bring it forward rather than folding it into a general 'supported pupils' line.
Evidence when you have no numbers
Most TA achievements are not going to come with a neat statistic, and that is fine. Show impact through concrete examples instead: the intervention you ran and what pupils could do by the end of it, the child who started joining in, the routine you helped a class settle into. Never invent figures to look more measurable — a specific, truthful example carries more weight with a school than a made-up percentage, and it holds up at interview.
Tailor to the school and age phase
Primary and secondary work differently, and mainstream and special schools ask for different things again. A CV aimed at a Reception role should sound different from one aimed at supporting Key Stage 4. Read the advert and the school's website, match the age phase and setting in the experience you emphasise, and reflect the school's ethos where you genuinely share it. Tailoring shows you understand the specific role rather than sending the same CV everywhere.
A worked example
The example below is illustrative and generic, not a real person. Before: 'Helped children with reading.' After: 'Ran daily phonics interventions for a group of 6 Year 1 pupils, most of whom moved up a reading band over the year.' The rewrite names the age group, the activity and what changed for the pupils — without claiming data you were never given.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Listing classroom duties with no sign of impact on pupils
- Hiding safeguarding awareness and DBS status at the bottom, or leaving them out
- Skipping the age phase and type of school, so the CV feels generic
- Inventing statistics to look more 'measurable' than the role allows
- Describing SEN or 1:1 work vaguely, or in a way that could identify a child
Common questions
What should a teaching assistant CV focus on?
The difference you make to pupils: learning supported, interventions run, behaviour and confidence improved. Alongside that, make safeguarding awareness, an enhanced DBS and relevant training easy to find, and tailor to the age phase and type of school.
Do I need a teaching assistant qualification to apply?
Not always. Many schools value experience with children and the right attitude, and some support you to train on the job. A CACHE or NCFE Level 2 or 3 Teaching Assistant qualification helps, but where it is not essential, lead with your experience and any relevant training you do have.
How do I write a TA CV with no school experience?
Draw on any experience supporting children or vulnerable people: volunteering, youth work, childcare, tutoring, coaching or your own parenting where relevant. Frame it around what schools need, name any safeguarding or first aid training, and show reliability and a calm, patient approach with concrete examples.