National occupational standards are statements of competence describing good practice, and are written to measure performance outcomes. Essentially they describe what people need to be able to do, as well as what they must know and understand for their work. They are a source of information to help people make informed decisions about:

• the demands of employment
• good practice in employment
• the coverage and focus of job roles, and
• the structure and content of education and training and related qualifications.

The standards cover most roles in schools, such as teaching assistants or cleaners, and can be used to support a variety of training and development activities. The NOS also underpin national vocational qualifications (NVQs) and inform the development of other qualifications.

National occupational standards can help to establish the link between the aims and objectives of an organisation, and what individuals need to be able to achieve. Consequently, they are of use in the design of education and training, and in the design of qualifications. They can also be used in the management and development of organisations and individuals, for example:

• skill mix review
• job design and staff deployment
• performance review
• development planning
• planning and evaluating training and development, and
• evaluating qualifications.

The NOS have been developed for use in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to ensure the qualifications based on them can be transferred across the United Kingdom. They are developed and maintained by sector skills councils (SSC) and sector bodies (SB).

The TDA is the sector body for the school workforce in England and we have worked with partners in other UK countries to develop NOS for staff who support teaching and learning in schools. Other SSCs or SBs are responsible for developing standards for roles that are not exclusive to schools, such as administrative staff; the TDA works with these organisations to ensure the needs of schools are taken into account. We also develop and review the professional standards for higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs).

The support work in schools qualifications include units from a wide range of NOS to allow those working in multiple roles or whose current responsibilities do not allow them evidence the full NVQ to tailor their qualification to their circumstances.

The Sector Skills Development Agency website identifies the SSCs and SBs and their responsibilities; the UK NOS directory includes all NOS and can be searched by keyword.