Updated 15 October 2026. This guide is about England. Figures below are gross NJC examples, before deductions. They are not take-home pay, and they are not an offer of employment.
What is the HLTA pay scale for 2026?
There is no single national HLTA pay scale for 2026/27. The National Joint Council for Local Government Services sets a pay spine. The employer decides which point, if any, applies to the job. A full-time-equivalent figure is not the same as the amount you are paid for term-time hours. HLTA status means meeting the 33 professional standards. A Level 4 certificate on its own does not confer it.
The spine cited here is the NJC agreement for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, in the circular dated 24 August 2026. Read the NJC pay agreement and Annex 1.
Is there a national HLTA grade?
No. The NJC publishes spinal column points and hourly rates. It does not publish a grade called “HLTA”. Employers set the grade locally. The Department for Education’s staffing advice tells governing bodies, when they draw up support-staff posts, to take account of any local-authority job profile and the grading issues the authority may raise. Staffing and employment advice for schools.
A grade number in one school is not comparable with the same grade number in another school unless you have the salary, the hours and the paid weeks. Ask for those three things in writing. Trade-union guidance also tells members to check the contract. The NEU support-staff pay page is further reading. It is not the source of the rates in the table.
Academies are not required to use the NJC spine. If the advert does not mention NJC or a spinal point, ask which pay scale the trust uses.
Selected 2026/27 NJC examples
These five points are examples for reading an offer. They are the same points already on this page. They are not an official HLTA band, and a real post can sit on a different point. Each figure is the 1 April 2026 column of Annex 1. The circular calculates the hourly rate by dividing the annual salary by 52.143 weeks and then by 37 hours.
| Spinal column point | Annual full-time-equivalent salary | Published hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | £31,525 | £16.34 |
| 18 | £32,578 | £16.89 |
| 20 | £33,673 | £17.45 |
| 22 | £34,811 | £18.04 |
| 24 | £36,581 | £18.96 |
Source: NJC Local Government Services pay agreement 2026, Annex 1, circular 24 August 2026.
London and other local arrangements can differ. Ask whether any local addition is already inside the advertised figure. Do not add a teacher’s London allowance to an HLTA salary. Teachers are paid under the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, which is a different framework. School teachers’ pay and conditions.
How term-time pay differs from the full-time-equivalent figure
Use the employer’s full-time weekly hours and the employer’s paid-weeks factor. The factor should include the paid leave that applies to the contract, not only the weeks pupils are in school. Some employers then spread that annual amount over 12 monthly payments. Ask payroll whether yours does. That practice is local. It is not a rule in the NJC circular. Devon’s payroll guidance for schools is an example of a local authority explaining its own process, not a national rate.
Worked example. Take the NJC full-time-equivalent salary at spinal column point 16, which is £31,525. Assume, only for this illustration, 32.5 contracted hours against the 37-hour week used in the NJC hourly-rate note, and a hypothetical employer factor of 44.5 paid weeks against 52.143. £31,525 × 32.5/37 × 44.5/52.143 comes to £23,632.01 gross a year, which is £1,969.33 gross a month if that annual sum is paid in 12 equal amounts.
The hours fraction matters. Using only the weeks fraction would overstate this example. The 32.5 hours and the 44.5 weeks are not NJC rules. If the advert already states your actual salary, do not pro-rate it again.
What makes an HLTA role different from a teaching assistant or an LSA?
HLTA status means the person has met the 33 professional standards for higher level teaching assistant status. The Department for Education published those standards for the award of status. Archived DfE publication, Professional standards for HLTA status, November 2006. The standards in use for assessment are also set out by the HLTA National Assessment Partnership: HLTA standards.
A Level 4 certificate alone does not confer HLTA status. Status follows assessment against the standards. A teaching assistant post and a learning support assistant post are different jobs again. Read the vacancy, and read TA, LSA and HLTA in London schools.
When you read an HLTA advert, ask:
- How often you would lead learning, and what planning the teacher still provides.
- Whether any SEN duties, training or personal care are part of this post. SEN duties describe who you support. HLTA status describes the level of responsibility. One does not imply the other.
- What assessment, records and communication with the teacher are expected.
- Whether you would supervise other support staff.
- Whether the written grade and hours match those duties.
Becoming an HLTA does not confer qualified teacher status. QTS is a separate requirement for teaching. Qualified teacher status.
HLTA pay and teacher pay
A teacher’s salary and an HLTA’s salary use different frameworks. Classroom teachers are covered by the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document. School teachers’ pay and conditions. Support staff in many maintained schools are graded on local arrangements that may use the NJC spine. Our teacher pay guide explains the teacher framework. Do not turn a teacher’s annual salary into an hourly rate by dividing it only by classroom contact hours. That misses the rest of the teacher’s duties.
Compare training, the 33 standards, QTS, and the written offer. Extra duties do not move a support post onto the teacher pay scale.
School contracts and agency assignments
For a school contract, ask for the actual annual salary, the full-time-equivalent salary, the hours and the paid weeks. For an agency assignment, ask for the gross rate, who employs you, how holiday pay is treated, and the duties. Those annual amounts are full-time-equivalent spine points. They are not a day rate.
Agency workers have a separate set of rights, including pay information in the key information document where that applies. Agency workers: your rights. Our supply pay guide explains how to compare a PAYE figure with an umbrella figure.
Where to look next
Teaching assistant jobs lists our classroom support vacancies, including HLTA roles when schools advertise them. Check the duties and the grade. A SEN teaching assistant post is not an HLTA post unless the advert says so. SEN teaching assistant jobs are a separate list.
For other support-staff pay, use the teaching assistant pay guide. That guide is about teaching assistant grading, not HLTA status.
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Frequently asked questions
Is there one HLTA pay scale for 2026?
No. For 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 the NJC publishes a pay spine, not an HLTA grade. The employer sets the point. The examples on this page are spinal column points 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 from Annex 1 of the agreement dated 24 August 2026.
What is the difference between full-time-equivalent pay and term-time pay?
The full-time-equivalent salary is the annual rate for the full-time week used by that pay scale. Term-time pay is that rate adjusted for your hours and for the paid weeks in your contract. If the advert already states the actual salary, do not pro-rate it a second time.
Does a Level 4 certificate make me an HLTA?
No. HLTA status means meeting the 33 professional standards. A Level 4 certificate alone does not confer that status. Qualified teacher status is a further, separate requirement.
