Special Needs Assistant (SNA)

As a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) you work alongside classroom teachers to support students with a range of physical, intellectual, and emotional needs in primary and post-primary schools across Ireland. Your day-to-day duties include helping students with personal care tasks such as eating, mobility, and bathroom breaks, as well as supporting them during lessons, on school buses, and in the playground. You work closely with class teachers, special education teachers, parents, and other professionals such as speech and language therapists and occupational therapists to ensure each student's individual needs are met. You monitor and record students' behaviour and progress, and help create a safe, inclusive environment where every learner can participate and thrive.

A Leaving Certificate is the typical starting point, and subjects such as Home Economics, Biology, LCVP, and Applied Social Studies can be useful background. The most common entry route is a QQI Level 5 or Level 6 PLC course in Special Needs Assisting, Care Work, or Early Childhood Care and Education, available through Colleges of Further Education and ETBs across Ireland. Some candidates hold or go on to complete a Level 7 or Level 8 degree in areas such as Social Care, Early Childhood Education, or Applied Social Studies, which can broaden career options. SNAs employed in Department of Education-funded schools are hired under specific DEIS and Department of Education circulars, and new entrants are typically required to hold at least a QQI Level 5 award in a relevant care or education discipline. There is no single statutory professional register for SNAs, but the Department of Education sets minimum qualification criteria and candidates are subject to Garda vetting under the National Vetting Bureau Acts.