Schools in England risk losing TAs to supermarkets over ‘chronic’ low pay

Promised staff pay rises will force schools to cut TA roles, leaving the most vulnerable children without the support they need. Photograph: Alex Hinds/Alamy

Schools in England risk “haemorrhaging” vital teaching assistants to better-paid jobs in supermarkets and other places because of the cost of living crisis with recruitment becoming increasingly difficult, according to a report.

Headteachers have also said that cuts to school budgets and promised staff pay rises – that will not be funded by the government – will put schools in a desperate situation and many will have to cut TA roles, taking away support for some of the most vulnerable children.