Best teaching assistant agency in Manchester [2025]

Yipiyap tutor fulfilling the role of a teaching assistant with small group intervention.

The best agency? None – meet Yipiyap.

Let’s be honest – no one really loves agencies. But schools need teaching assistants, and they have to come from somewhere.

So – how about a different way of doing things?

Yipiyap’s peer tutors fulfil the classroom support and tailored intervention roles that traditional teaching assistants are needed for, as well as SEND and AP support. Peer tutoring is proven rocket fuel for learner progress,[i] and the Yipiyap tutors’ closeness in age to learners makes them mega-engaging from day one.

We’re employers, not recruiters. That means every one of our tutors is fully employed by Yipiyap. We interview hundreds of young people every year. Once the very best of those have sat our CPD-accredited training course, they’re ready to join you in your classroom.

Your school or college gets a ready supply of classroom support, at a seriously competitive rate, and with that sprinkling of relatable peer tutor magic that makes all the difference.

Can peer tutors fill a teaching assistant role?

Peer tutors aren’t teaching assistants - but they serve the same core need for your learners.

Three-quarters of schools have trouble recruiting enough classroom assistants to fill their needs,[i] and retention is almost as hard, with higher-paying roles in hospitality and retail tempting away staff..[ii]

Supply agencies are a quick fix – but hugely expensive.[iii]

While the National Foundation for Education Research calls for a new approach to support staff recruitment from government,[iv] forward thinking schools are looking for a solution on their own.

Peer tutoring offers that solution, and totally sidesteps the dilemma of insufficient direct recruitment or exploitative overheads from supply agencies.

Manchester’s schools deserve classroom support.

Impactful, target support is key in Greater Manchester, where schools face more than their fair share of challenges.

Greater Manchester’s secondaries lag behind London and the national average in performance, with only 20% attaining an “Outstanding” Ofsted rating (compared to 38% in London and 23% across the whole of England).[i]

No surprise there, when the North West’s schools receive an average of £654 less per pupil than schools in London! [ii] That missing funding is sorely needed: among other contextual challenges, Manchester has a disproportionately high number of children in poverty and children in care. [iii]

The region is also hit hard by absences, with overall absence rates and rates of persistent absence both above the national average in 2023/24.[iv]

The Covid-19 pandemic only served to exacerbate these geographic inequalities. Pupils in the North of England were hit by an average of 41 additional days spent in lockdown, while the area was rocked by a 17% higher mortality rate than other areas of the country.

In the face of those hardships, Manchester’s schools need support that is affordable and impactful. Luckily, we have the solution.

Your new classroom assistant in Manchester

Greater Manchester is Yipiyap’s home turf, and we’ve spent over a decade inspiring learners in and around the city.

Yipiyap support is competitively priced, and taps into a pool of talent inaccessible to traditional teaching assistant roles: ambitious and academic gap year students.

We’ve got deep roots here, and a promising roster of tutors ready to be deployed in your school.

Find out more about Yipiyap’s unique peer tutoring model, or request your new tutor today.