Effective ABA Tutors: What Are They & How To Find Them

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People Featured In This Work

Ani Shashua

  • Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, 2020 – 2024.
  • Registered Behavioural Therapist, April 2022-May 2023.
  • LinkedIn Profile

ABA Tutor Summary

What Is An ABA Tutor?

  • ABA tutors are also known as behaviour technicians, behaviour support workers or ABA therapists.
  • They are the mediators that implement programmes designed by an ABA Consultant. 
  • They may have a background in childcare, psychology or teaching, but this is not a prerequisite (UKSBA, 2020).
  • Private or home ABA tutors implement programmes within the home environment.

What Qualifications Do You Need?

  • Level 3 Qualifications e.g. NVQ
  • 5 GCSEs
  • BSc or higher in a related field
  • Previous experience working with individuals with autism and/or learning disabilities and/or challenging behaviour
  • Previous experience of PBS or ABA
  • DBS
  • Driver
  • RBT Qualification

What Qualities Do You Need?

  • Kind, safe & fun 
  • Passion for helping others, patient & nurturing
  • Reliable, committed & receptive to feedback from supervisors
  • Effective communicator

Typical ABA Tutor Job Description

  • Provide sessions in home and/or school settings
  • Work with people with autism and/or learning disabilities and/or challenging behaviour
  • Work as part of a team, including parents and supervisors:
    • Attending meetings
    • Contribute to intervention design
  • Follow behaviour support plans and implement evidence-based interventions with high integrity, including accurate data collection.

ABA Tutor vs RBT

  • Registered Behaviour Technicians, known as RBTs, are ABA tutors that hold a paraprofessional certification issued by the Behaviour Analyst Certification Board.
  • There are certain requirements to maintain this certification
  • RBTs earn at least 50p per hour more than ABA tutors.

How Much Do ABA Tutors Get Paid?

  • ABA tutors are paid around £11.00 – £13.00 per hour as permanent staff. Self-employed ABA tutors can earn as much as £23 per hour. 
  • The average pay for ABA tutors in the UK on Indeed.com is £16.83 per hour (Indeed, 2024). However, this figure appears to include a mix of professions such as Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and certified Behaviour Analysts.
  • ABA tutor rates appear to be in line with the National Living Wage, but this varies depending on the supply and demand within each location.

How many ABA tutors are in the UK?

  • There are no official statistics for the number of ABA tutors in the UK. However, there are 618 Behaviour Analysts registered with the UKSBA, as of 29th July 2024.
  • Using BACB certificant data as a rough guide, there are roughly 2.58 RBTs for every 1 Behaviour Analyst. From this we can estimate that there are more than 1,600 ABA tutors in the UK.

What Training And Career Path Can I Expect?

  1. Secure an ABA tutor role and complete 40 hour of RBT Training 
  2. Complete the RBT initial competency assessment
  3. Take and pass the RBT exam and become a Registered Behaviour Technician
    • Typical earnings start from £11.50 per hour.
    • The UKSBA is in the process of developing a vocational certificate to replace the US-based RBT qualification.
  4. Complete graduate-level studies on an approved course sequence, for example Level 5 or 6 (This is a PBS or ABA course equivalent to a foundation or degree with honours)
  5. Complete supervised training and become an Assistant UK Behaviour Cert, aUKBA(cert).
    • Typical salary starts from about £30,000
  6. Complete an approved postgraduate course sequence at MSc Level
  7. Complete supervision and competence standards to become a UKBA(cert)
    • Typical salary starting from about £35,000
  8. Complete management training and gain 2 years of experience managing other behaviour consultants.
    • Typical salary from about £40,000
  9. Gain 4 years of experience managing other behaviour analysts to become a senior behaviour analyst.
    • Typical salary from about £45,000
  10. Gain 10 years of experience managing other behaviour analysts to become a clinical director.
    • Typical salary of £63,000 – £99,000 (Glassdoor.co.uk, n.d.)

Where To Find ABA Tutor Jobs

Where To Find ABA Tutors

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References

Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (n.d). BACB certificant data. Retrieved from https://www.bacb.com/BACB-certificant-data.


Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2024). US employment demand for behavior analysts: 2010–2023. Littleton, CO: Author


Consilium Research and Consultancy Ltd. (2016). Study into the impact of a values based approach to recruitment and retention Published by Skills for Care. https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/resources/documents/Recruitment-support/Recruitment-planning/Values-based-recruitment/Values-based-recruitment-Final-evaluation-report.pdf


Glassdoor.co.uk. (n.d.). Clinical Director/BCBA Salaries [Review of Clinical Director/BCBA Salaries]. Glassdoor.co.uk; glassdoor.co.uk. Retrieved August 18, 2024, from https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/clinical-director-bcba-salary-SRCH_KO0,22.htm 


Indeed. (2024, August 18). ABA therapist salary in United Kingdom [Review of ABA therapist salary in United Kingdom]. https://uk.indeed.com/career/aba-therapist/salaries 


UKSBA. (2020). Guidance for New Independent ABA Practitioners. https://uk-sba.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/RESOURCES-ABA-information-for-new-independent-practitioners.pdf


videezy. (2024). Videezy. https://videezy.com

Location

37 Hollybush Road 
North Walsham
NR28 9XT

sim@pbsaba.co.uk

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