Kate Detheridge will lead the new group which will assess the varied roles which classroom assistants now take on and seek to provide basic guidelines to ensure staff and students get the best experience.

Mrs Detheridge, head teacher at Churchend Primary School, said: “We do not know what it is going to look like at this stage but the intention is to provide a set of standards and to increase the status of teaching assistants.

“I think having a look at these roles is something which many people have been asking for quite a while. We want to make sure that the skills and experience of teaching assistants are used to best effect.”

The panel will look at the different ways teaching assistants work in the classroom and lay out guidelines for those wishing to take on a classroom role other than as a teacher.

Schools minister David Laws invited Mrs Detheridge to head the board and she will work together with 13 other members from around the UK to assess the roles being carried out across the country.

The panel hopes to be able to present its findings to the Government next spring. The results will then be used to inform politicians on whether any changes need to be made to help to professionalise the positions.

Mrs Detheridge said: “It seems like the right time to be establishing standards because the roles are so diverse now. The work of a teaching assistant in a special school may be very different from that of someone in mainstream education as well as the differences between primary and secondary schools.

“I have been privileged enough to have worked with some very talented people in the classroom and I am pleased that the Government is committed to raising the profile of teaching assistants.”