The School of Environment, Education and Development’s (SEED) policy on the use of Teaching Assistants (TAs) aims to:

• ensure greater equity in the expectations placed on TAs,
• provide a fair distribution of TA support amongst staff,
• establish a central reference point for TA processes within SEED,
• provide clear guidance on when it is appropriate to seek TA support. 
• It supplements, reiterates and extends the Faculty TA policy.

It supplements, reiterates, and extends the broader Faculty of Humanities TA policy and formalises conventions while introducing specific measures to promote:

Fairness: TAs with similar hours and roles undertake comparable work and course unit convenors receive equitable levels of support.

Clarity: TA procedures are documented in one central, accessible location and the reasoning behind TA allocation decision are made transparent.

 Safeguards: Existing workload caps are reaffirmed. New limits are introduced to prevent unreasonable demands.

This policy is effective from semester two TA allocations for the academic year 2025/26.

This policy does not seek to limit opportunities or developmental experiences for individuals, even where it specifies that certain activities (e.g. lecturing) are not appropriate for Teaching Assistants (TAs) to undertake.

Rather, it instead clarifies that some forms of work fall beyond the scope of what can reasonably be considered ‘assistance’ and therefore should not be undertaken within a TA contract. Where appropriate, individuals may still engage in higher-level teaching activities, such as lecture design and delivery, through alternative arrangements (for example, via an external teaching budget request). The policy is not about restricting opportunities but about ensuring that work undertaken at a higher level is recognised, requested and paid appropriately.

Please note that there is an option for TAs to partly develop seminars based on content provided by the convenor. This can be requested in the TA request form and will recompense them for their time.

The policy has not been designed with this in mind, instead, it has been intended to improve consistency in the allocation of hours. This may result in hours slightly increasing or decreasing against continuing as normal.

SEED Teaching & Learning Committee, Departmental TA Coordinators, the School Office, the SEED PGR director, Faculty representatives, the People Directorate, the SEED TA Forum (including TA representatives) and the SEED Senior Leadership Team were consulted about this policy.

All SEED teaching assistance must be requested through an online form. This form will be circulated to all academic staff twice a year, ahead of semester one and semester two respectively. A deadline for completion will be set and communicated by the SEED Teaching Assistants team to comply with People Directorate deadlines, to enable timely payment, and to manage the workloads for Departmental TA Coordinators and other colleagues involved in the processing of payments.

Should an unavoidable need for TA support arise later (e.g. during the semester), the same form may be used to request a TA but the Departmental TA Coordinator should be notified by email in addition by the convenor. Requesting outside of the stipulated deadlines should be avoided where possible as this can cause substantial delays in payment to TAs.

Please read the Summary for Course Convenors.

Please read the Summary for PhD Supervisors.