This research into the deployment and impact of Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) in Northamptonshire was commissioned by the local Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG) which is made up of teacher and support staff union representatives, school services, human resources and other local authority representatives. The research was carried out by Ken Bland and Liz Bonnett of the University of Northampton and John Follett, School Workforce Advisor for Northamptonshire LA in the summer term 2007.
The research was conducted by distributing a questionnaire to all successful HLTA candidates working in Northamptonshire schools. A total of 306 questionnaires were sent out and 126 were returned, representing a response rate of 41%. The questionnaire was designed to gather data on the type of education environment that the HLTAs work in, their experience prior to enrolling on the course and how obtaining the HLTA status has impacted on their role within the school. A copy of the questionnaire is in Appendix 1 whilst Appendix 2 has a more detailed breakdown of the results.