The cost of employing an assistant will depend upon where your school is located in the UK. Below you will find all the information you need to know about covering the cost of your assistant.
Assistants must work a minimum of 12 hours a week; additional hours (we recommend a maximum of 18) can be negotiated directly with the assistant.
It is not possible to offer an assistant a lower allowance in return for fewer hours. The amounts below are the agreed minimum allowance stipulated by the UK education departments. They would not be able to survive on anything less.
Whilst we accept applications for assistants from boarding schools, we recommend that the assistants’ opportunities to make friends outside school and travel around the country are not restricted by excessive duties or weekend working and that any reduction in allowance in return for free accommodation is seen to be fair and calculated with local levels of rent payment in mind.
Assistants from non-EU countries may not extend their weekly timetable of 12 hours. Please contact the British Council which has delegated authority to grant permission on behalf of the Home Office.
If you are not able to offer 12 hours, you should attempt to find a partner school which can share the costs and timetable. Assistants may be shared between a maximum of three schools provided travel arrangements are reasonable and you are able to reimburse additional travel costs.
Possible options
- Your assistant works for 2 hours in your school and 10 hours in a local secondary school. You would pay £1,145.30* and the secondary school would pay £5,726.70*
- You share an assistant equally with two other local schools, four hours each. Cost per school £2,290.70*
- Any other combination of primary and/or secondary schools, as long as the assistant works in no more than three schools and works a minimum of 12 hours per week.
*Plus National Insurance contributions and London Weighting if appropriate.
Period of appointment – 1 October to 31 May* (8 months)
Gross monthly payment - £859.00
Standard hourly rate - £16.36
Total cost - £6,872 (exclusive of National Insurance contributions).
The hourly rate is calculated as follows:
Total payment of £6,872 divided by 35 weeks = £196.34
Weekly payment of £196.34 divided by 12 hours = £16.36
If you are employing a Chinese assistant, the official period of appointment is 14 September to 30 June, therefore the total cost to a school outside London will be £8,217.77
If your school is in London your assistant must be paid an additional allowance.
Inner London
Cost of allowance over 8 months - £1,770
Total cost - £8,642 (exclusive of National Insurance contributions)
Gross monthly payment - £1,080.25
Standard hourly rate: £20.58
Outer London
Cost of allowance over 8 months - £1,291
Total cost - £8,163 (exclusive of National Insurance contributions)
Gross monthly payment - £1,020.38
Standard hourly rate: £19.44
London fringe
Cost of allowance over 8 months - £451
Total cost - £7,323 (exclusive of National Insurance contributions)
Gross monthly payment - £915.38
Standard hourly rate: £17.44
If you would like to find out how the allowance is calculated, you may download the FLA Allowance Calculation.
If you would like your assistant to start up to a month earlier or finish up to a month later than the period of appointment above, this can be arranged by mutual consent.
Period of appointment – 1 September to 31 May (9 months)
Gross monthly payment - £1,000
Standard hourly rate - £15
Total cost - £9,000 exclusive of employers' National Insurance contributions.
An additional monthly Islands Allowance is paid in the Orkney Islands.
You assistant may start in August or stay up until the end of June- this must be by mutual agreement and at additional cost.
Period of appointment – 1 September to 31 May (9 months)
Gross monthly payment - £859.00
Standard hourly rate - £16.36
Total cost - £7,731 (exclusive of National Insurance contributions).
If you require further information about the cost of employing a foreign language assistant please contact us.
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