Academic support officer to university teaching assistant
An academic support officer already meets 46% of what the university teaching assistant role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.
50.7/ 100
1 How much of what a university teaching assistant is expected to do is already part of an academic support officer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the university teaching assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A university teaching assistant role treats 6 of its required skills as things an academic support officer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assess students
- assessment processes
- curriculum objectives
- give constructive feedback
- guarantee students' safety
- university procedures
What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 12 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A university teaching assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an academic support officer background worth leading with.
- already held provide information on study programmes assisting and caring
- already held oversee extra-curricular activities management skills
- already held university procedures business, administration and law
- already held liaise with educational support staff communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held assist in the organisation of school events management skills
- already held work with virtual learning environments working with computers
All 12 carried skills, including the 6 the university teaching assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 18 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn provide assistance to lecturer required
- still to learn assist students in their learning required
- still to learn prepare lesson content required
- still to learn provide lesson materials required
- still to learn supervise practical courses required
- optional, not held assist students with their dissertation optional
- optional, not held assist scientific research optional
- optional, not held consult students on learning content optional
- optional, not held conduct qualitative research optional
- optional, not held conduct quantitative research optional
- optional, not held conduct scholarly research optional
- optional, not held monitor developments in field of expertise optional
- optional, not held assist students with equipment optional
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- optional, not held action research optional
- optional, not held scientific research methodology optional
- optional, not held assign homework optional
- optional, not held manage resources for educational purposes optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a university teaching assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 provide assistance to lecturer practise this
- 02 assist students in their learning practise this
- 03 prepare lesson content practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 12 skills that carry over
- already held assess students skill
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held give constructive feedback skill
- already held guarantee students' safety skill
- already held university procedures knowledge
- already held assist in the organisation of school events skill
- already held liaise with educational support staff skill
- already held oversee extra-curricular activities skill
- already held provide information on study programmes skill
- already held work with virtual learning environments skill
- already held write work-related reports skill
13 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held assign homework optional
- optional, not held assist students with their dissertation optional
- optional, not held manage resources for educational purposes optional
- optional, not held action research optional
- optional, not held assist scientific research optional
- optional, not held assist students with equipment optional
- optional, not held conduct qualitative research optional
- optional, not held conduct quantitative research optional
- optional, not held conduct scholarly research optional
- optional, not held consult students on learning content optional
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- optional, not held monitor developments in field of expertise optional
- optional, not held scientific research methodology optional
24 held skills the university teaching assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role communicate with youth skill
- not needed by the target role communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role cooperate with education professionals skill
- not needed by the target role coordinate educational programmes skill
- not needed by the target role counsel students skill
- not needed by the target role customer service knowledge
- not needed by the target role education law knowledge
- not needed by the target role electronic communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify education needs skill
- not needed by the target role learning difficulties knowledge
- not needed by the target role liaise with educational staff skill
- not needed by the target role listen actively skill
- not needed by the target role manage access programmes skill
- not needed by the target role monitor student's behaviour skill
- not needed by the target role project management knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote education course skill
- not needed by the target role promote social awareness skill
- not needed by the target role recruit student ambassador skill
- not needed by the target role school psychology knowledge
- not needed by the target role show consideration for student's situation skill
- not needed by the target role support children's wellbeing skill
- not needed by the target role tackle issues that block academic progress skill
- not needed by the target role teach university class skill
- not needed by the target role tutor students skill
2 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held action research optional
- optional, not held scientific research methodology optional
Common questions about this move
Can an academic support officer become a university teaching assistant?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An academic support officer already covers 46% of what a university teaching assistant is expected to do: 12 skills carry over, 6 of which the university teaching assistant role treats as required.
What skills does an academic support officer need to become a university teaching assistant?
5 required skills are missing, plus 13 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is provide assistance to lecturer.
How hard is the move from academic support officer to university teaching assistant?
Its learning distance is 50.7 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.