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Pastoral care worker

Alternative titles for this job include Pastoral support assistant, pastoral officer

Pastoral care workers give practical and emotional support to children and young people in schools and colleges to help them thrive.

Average salary (a year)

£24,000 Starter

to

£31,000 Experienced

Typical hours (a week)

30 to 37 term time

You could work

between 8am and 6pm flexibly

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become

You can get into this job through:

  • working towards this role
  • volunteering
  • applying directly

Work

You may be able to start as a teaching assistant, learning mentor or volunteer in an educational setting and take on pastoral responsibilities as you gain experience. You could then apply for pastoral jobs as they become available.

Volunteering

You can get experience of working with children, families and young people, which will help when you apply for jobs. Examples include volunteering in schools, mentoring and youth work.

You can look for opportunities through organisations like:

Direct Application

You can apply directly for jobs if you have experience of working with children and young people, for example in:

  • youth work
  • learning support
  • counselling
  • advice work
  • mental health support
  • special educational needs
  • social care

Employers will expect you to have some GCSEs, or equivalent qualifications, including English and maths.

More Information

Career tips

Pastoral care workers are normally employed term-time only. A working week can vary from a few hours up to full time.

Advertised pay rates are often listed as full-time equivalent (FTE) or pro rata. Actual pay will depend on the number of hours you work.

Further information

You can find job opportunities with your local council and Teaching Vacancies.

What it takes

Find out what skills you’ll use in this role.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • the ability to understand people’s reactions
  • the ability to work well with others
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • customer service skills
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

Restrictions and Requirements

You'll need to:

What you’ll do

Discover the day to day tasks you’ll do in this role.

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

As a pastoral care worker, you could:

  • work with individuals and small groups
  • give students practical and emotional support
  • act as a link between students, their families and teachers
  • make sure safeguarding rules and procedures are followed
  • help students learn how to manage difficult situations
  • meet with parents and carers to discuss incidents and form action plans
  • promote positive attendance, behaviour and participation in class
  • help to develop initiatives like anti-bullying schemes
  • collect data for reports and monitor students’ progress
  • work with outside agencies when required, such as social services

Working environment

You could work at a school, in a sixth form college, at a college or at a university.

Your working environment may be emotionally demanding.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

With experience and further training, you could become a:

  • pastoral lead
  • pastoral support manager
  • education welfare officer
  • non-teaching head of year

You might also train to be a teacher, or move into counselling or youth work.

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a pastoral care worker right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Mentoring Award (Online)

  • Provider: SOUTH DEVON COLLEGE
  • Start date: 12 January 2026
  • Location: Not known

Award in Mentoring (RQF)

  • Provider: THE ROYAL ARTILLERY CENTRE FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
  • Start date: Flexible
  • Location: Not known
Find courses near you

Jobs In the United Kingdom

The Find a job service can help you with your search for jobs and send alerts when new jobs become available.

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