Focus Awards Level 4 Certificate for Higher Focus Awards Level Teaching Assistants (RQF)

The Certificate requires 36 credits.

Our courses are OFQUAL approved as we work with an approved awarding organisation called “Focus Awards”. This is a well-respected awarding organisation for education and training courses. This is the confirmation of their status-https://register.ofqual.gov.uk/Detail/Index/1391?category=organisations&query=focus%20awards.

HLTA stands for Higher Level Teaching Assistant. So, L4 HLTA course is just an abbreviation for Level 4 Higher Level Teaching Assistants course.

This course will open doors to your new career as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant working with children and young people in a school environment.

Yes, you need to work in a school environment where you are required to show competence in both knowledge and skills.

What we are offering is the HLTA qualification that is designed in line with the HLTA Standards. You can get HLTA position in your school after achieving this qualification. The HLTA (Higher Learning Teaching Assistant) certificate does not give you HLTA status. You will need to pass an HLTA assessment to achieve this. However, the knowledge gained on our HLTA qualification will be invaluable in preparing you for this assessment, as the units are specifically based around the professional HLTA standards required for HLTA status.

To achieve HLTA status, you will also need to already be a teaching assistant with documented classroom hours and a nationally recognised qualification at level 2 or above in English/literacy and maths/numeracy. Visit the HLTA National Assessment Partnership for full details on the HLTA assessment process.

You will receive your course materials right after you are enrolled on this course at our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

There is no time frame to complete the course. Learners can complete it within 5 weeks (fast track) or up to 9 months.

Have a quick look at the following chart for TA courses to know which course suits you the best:

Witness testimonies are classed as “supporting” evidence and provide additional information in the form of a statement of authentication from an occupationally competent individual who verifies all relevant details of a learner’s workplace activities and validates that the learner can conduct a skill or task. In some instances, the course requires the learner to demonstrate certain skills such as “Positive working relationships” or “motivate and support children and young people’s positive behaviour”, all of which are very difficult to prove using documentary evidence alone. Hence, an expert witness is tasked with providing a written record of learner’s performance at the workplace, precisely describing the activity undertaken against targeted assessment criteria confirming if these have been followed in the work setting. Witness testimonies are compulsory in certain units and this will be clearly stated in the relevant Assignment Guide. Moreover, it is to be noted that you will need to write a reflective account as well along with providing the witness testimony.

A reflective account is the supporting written evidence/ learner’s statement that indicates how the learner performed/performs the activity testified by the workplace supervisor, what went well and what did not, what you learnt and what you should have done. You also mention what strategies you will adapt for improvement. Please note that there is no separate document for writing a reflective account. Reflective account/learner’s statement is given in the same Assessment Brief document.

An occupationally competent individual i.e. a workplace supervisor, preferably the head teacher, or even a teacher you are directly working with as a teaching assistant is requested to complete the Witness Statement form. Without this independent verification, it is impossible for us to approve your tasks.

There is only one witness statement form to be filled by your workplace supervisor only. This form will cover all practical tasks across relevant units of the accredited course.

Firstly, a witness statement is a source of evidence and does not confirm the achievement of assessment criteria or confer an assessment decision. For that purpose, the assessor needs to:

1. consider all the information in the witness statement
2. note the relevant professional skills of the witness to make a judgement of performance
3. review the supporting written evidence/ reflective account when making an assessment decision
4. be convinced that the evidence presented in the witness statement is valid, sufficient and authentic

Moreover, if the supervisor has not witnessed you performing some of the targeted assessment criteria in your undertaken activities, the assessor will have to conduct an observation directly observing your activity to confirm the fulfillment of the remaining assessment criteria.

As teachers, we are bound to follow professional ethics. There is an element of trust that our trainee teaching assistants and the expert witness won’t present an inaccurate account of the activity undertaken. However, we will be vigilant and investigate where we are concerned that the sessions have not taken place as claimed.

The good news is that you supervisor may provide testimony based on the activities you had performed in the past, or usually perform at your workplace on daily/weekly basis. All we need is the confirmation that you practise the skills at your workplace that we are teaching you on the course.

The answer is yes – This can be in either a primary, secondary or a special school setting. However, you must ensure that the pupils you work with are aged 5+ and are studying at Key Stage 1 or above. You will also need the support of a mentor from within the school who will confirm your competence and prepare and sign a testimony of your abilities against the qualification standards.

The HLTA professional standards set out exactly what is expected of teaching assistants working towards the HLTA status. There are 33 standards, grouped under three main headings:

• Standards 1-7 – Professional attributes

These set out the attitudes, values and commitment expected of HLTAs.

• Standards 8-16 – Professional knowledge and understanding

These set out the knowledge and skills needed by HLTAs to be able to work effectively with teachers as part of the professional team supporting learning.

• Standards 17-33 – Professional skills

These set out the expectations for planning, monitoring, managing and evaluating learning within the framework of guidance and supervision agreed with the assigned teacher and in accordance with arrangements made by the Head Teacher of the school.

The short answer is No – Our HLTA Level 4 course is a competence-based qualification that requires you to demonstrate your workplace competence and reflect on your practice when working with children and/or young people.

Please refer to our main FAQs section or Contact Us; we have experienced course advisers who will be happy to assist you!