Teaching assistant supporting statement: what schools score

A teaching assistant supporting statement, which the Teaching Vacancies application form calls a personal statement, shows how you meet the person specification one criterion at a time. If the school uses the Teaching Vacancies application form, the statement is its personal statement section, with a limit of 1,500 words, according to the Teaching Vacancies service. Read the essential lines first and give each one an example from your own work or life.

Where the statement goes

The Teaching Vacancies design history records a maximum of 1,500 words, in a note published on 29 January 2026. The same note says the guidance now explains that schools "typically expect personal statements to be around 2 pages, approximately 500 to 1,000 words". That is general guidance for personal statements, not a rule for teaching assistants.

The service's preview of the application form says candidates "are encouraged to refer to relevant supporting documents, for example the job description and personal specification". It also tells schools they can add their own guidance, and that "you might want to specify how long their personal statement should be", so read the advert for anything extra.

Schools do not have to use that form. The preview opens with "If you choose to use the Teaching Vacancies application form", and some schools send their own. Clapton Girls' Academy says in its recruitment guidance that it sends "an application form to complete, together with a job description and a person specification", and adds "We do not accept Curriculum Vitaes."

The Department for Education's Keeping children safe in education (September 2026) is aimed at schools in England and says: "Schools and colleges should only accept copies of a curriculum vitae alongside an application form. A curriculum vitae on its own will not provide adequate information." So plan to fill in the form, not to send a CV on its own.

What the person specification asks

Clapton Girls' Academy says it shortlists "using the person specification as the basis for decision making". The Department for Education's guidance says schools should require applicants to provide "a statement of the personal qualities and experience that the applicant believes are relevant to their suitability for the post advertised and how they meet the person specification".

Two real teaching assistant specifications show the layout. The first is The Surrey Teaching Centre's specification on Teaching Vacancies, from a job listed on 1 July 2025. The second is William Patten Primary School's, on Hackney Education's site. Both were checked on 1 November 2026.

The Surrey Teaching Centre example has 31 lines: 23 essential and 8 desirable (counted from the document):

Heading	Essential	Desirable	Evidenced by
Qualifications	"Min A* - C grade in GCSE English & Maths or equivalent"; "Successful relevant experience of working with children within a learning environment."	"Experience of working as a teaching assistant in a school environment"; one line on further professional development or qualifications	Application
Knowledge and experience	8 lines, such as "Excellent literacy skills" and two about teamwork: "Ability to work independently or as part of a team demonstrating initiative, tact and diplomacy" and "Ability to work collaboratively and constructively as part of a highly motivated staff team"	5 lines, such as "Experience of teaching and supporting children with additional needs"	Application form & interview
Personal	13 lines, such as "Understand the need for confidentiality" and "Have a calm approach, and an empathic nature"	1 line: "Desire and determination to be a lifelong learner and improve personal effectiveness"	Interview and application

The last column is the school's own. In this document every group names the application, so plan to cover lines from all three groups in your application, most of them in the statement.

The William Patten example has 22 lines: 20 essential and 2 desirable (counted from the page). It has no "Evidenced by" column:

Heading	Essential	Desirable
Qualifications	"'A level' qualifications or equivalent"; "Numeracy and literacy skills of a high enough standard to support up to year 6"	"Educated to degree level in a relevant subject"
Experience	5 lines, such as "Experience of supporting children in primary education setting"	None
Knowledge and Skills	10 lines, such as "Confident with ICT" and "Positive approach to behaviour management"	"Additional language, sport skills or musical talent"
Personal Qualities	3 lines, such as "Flexible and willing to adapt to meet the needs of the school"	None

The two schools differ on qualifications: one names GCSE English and maths, the other "A level" qualifications or equivalent. Check your own specification line by line. As arithmetic, not a rule, 1,000 words across 23 essential lines is about 43 words a line, and the 1,500-word maximum is about 65, so group lines that ask for the same thing, such as the two team-working lines, into one example.

Safeguarding lines

Both specifications carry safeguarding lines. The Department for Education's guidance says an advert should include "the safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification". In the Surrey Teaching Centre example the lines are "Ability to safeguard and promote the welfare of children" and "Understand the need for confidentiality". In the William Patten one they are "Understanding of child protection and safeguarding issues/procedures" and "Ability to maintain confidentiality". To show them:

• Say what you did and what your part was, never who the child was. Write 'a child in the group' and 'the class teacher', not names.
• Name any safeguarding training, with its title and date.
• Say what you do with what you hear about children and families: who needs to know, and who does not.

The shape of one answer

The three lines below are the structure. The short lines after "Made up" are invented to show how much one line holds, so replace them with things that really happened to you.

Criterion: "Positive approach to behaviour management"

• When and where: the setting and the dates (a class, a club, a placement, a term). Made up: a Key Stage 2 class, afternoons, 2026.
• What you did: one task you handled yourself, in plain words. Made up: agreed a quiet signal with the class teacher and used it to bring one table of five back to the task.
• What happened: what changed for the child, the class or the teacher. Made up: the table finished the task and the teacher began using the signal with the whole class.

Do this for each essential line, then add the desirable lines you can honestly cover.

Before you submit

Check that every essential line has an example, that you are inside the limit the form shows and that no child's name is in the text. You can also check your draft against the person specification to see which criteria still have no example.