The Education Specialists

What The Education Specialists does

The Education Specialists (TES), trading in part as TES Supply, is a UK-based education recruitment and staffing agency founded in 2002 and headquartered at Paramount Business Park in Huyton, Liverpool, with a second office in Manchester. The company places teachers, teaching assistants, cover supervisors, higher-level teaching assistants, SEND support staff, cleaners, and other education support professionals into temporary, contract, and permanent roles at primary, secondary, SEND, early years, and further-education establishments across the North West of England. Since 2019, TES has operated as a brand within Operam Education Group, alongside sister brands Provide Education, Teachers UK, Key Stage Teacher Supply, First For Education, Bridge Education Recruitment, Provision Recruitment, Horizon Teachers, Choice Teachers, and Bespoke Education.

Revenue is generated via placement and supply fees charged to schools and academies. Daily rate cards published on the company site range from £95-£120 for cover supervisors, £95-£115 for teaching assistants, £95-£120 for SEN TAs, £100-£130 for HLTAs, and £150-£250 for qualified teachers, with cleaners billed at £14.25-£15.50 per hour; permanent placements typically carry a percentage-of-salary fee. Adjacent service lines include CPD Support, ECT (Early Career Teacher) Support, Leadership Recruitment, National Tutoring Programme delivery (Lightning Squad literacy via partnerships with the Fischer Family Trust and Success for All), and a "My Agency" candidate portal for online job search and timesheet submission. The technology stack described is standard recruitment CRM tooling with a self-service web portal; no proprietary AI/ML capability is disclosed.

Credentials and external validation include APSCo Audited Education Accreditation, APSCo Compliance+, Cyber Essentials, Inclusive Employer status, and APSCo membership, plus a 4.5/5 candidate rating across 64 reviews. Best Companies 1 Star accreditation was sustained in 2023, 2024, and 2026, and the firm was included in the Top 100 Best Small Companies and Regional Top 50 North West in 2023, positioning TES as a quality-certified, employer-brand-conscious regional operator within a multi-brand education staffing platform.

Name

The Education Specialists

Legal name

The Education Specialists

Website

https://tessupply.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Education Specialists is a UK-based education recruitment agency placing teachers, teaching assistants, and school support staff into temporary, contract, and permanent roles across the North West of England, operating as a brand within Operam Education Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Staffing Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPACAFAI

Education Direct Hire (Teachers/Administrators)

Business & Public Services/HR, Staffing & Recruitment Services/Permanent Placement & Direct Hire

SECONDARYEDAJAKAL

Special Education Staffing & Contracted Providers (Paras, Therapists, Specialists)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Special Education Services

Keywords

• Education recruitment
• Supply teaching
• School staffing
• Teaching assistants
• Education personnel

Headquarters

HQ city

Liverpool

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Recruitment Fee Recovery: The company earns revenue by placing candidates (teachers, teaching assistants, support staff) in education establishments. Schools and education providers pay for recruitment and staffing services to fill temporary, contract, and permanent positions.
2. Supply Staffing: Ongoing staffing placements for education establishments. Candidates are paid weekly (a week in arrears) via PAYE. The company charges education clients for supplying vetted and cleared staff.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Education Specialists is a UK-based education recruitment agency founded in 2002 that supplies teachers, teaching assistants, and school support staff to primary, secondary, SEND, further education, and early years institutions across the North West of England. The company places both day-to-day supply staff and longer-term contracted educators, operating as part of the Operam Education Group.

Product overview

The Education Specialists (TES) operates TES Supply as its core online recruitment platform and service offering, encompassing candidate-facing portals (My Agency), client-facing services (My Next Recruit), and several specialist add-on modules. Key add-on services include the National Tutoring Programme (partnered with the Fischer Family Trust), a CPD support platform (with Northorpe Hall and CPD Online College partnerships), ECT support with a digital toolkit, and Operam Education Leadership Recruitment for senior leadership placements. The company is part of the Operam Education Group network, which also includes eight other education recruitment agency brands covering the North and Midlands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Supply Teacher Placement Placement of qualified teachers for day-to-day and short-term absence cover in primary, secondary, SEND, and further education settings across the North West of England.
• Teaching Assistant Placement Placement of teaching assistants and classroom support staff for schools requiring temporary or ongoing classroom support across primary and SEND settings.
• School Support Staff Placement Placement of non-teaching school support personnel — including cover supervisors, admin staff, and pastoral roles — into schools and educational institutions.
• Long-Term and Contract Teaching Placements Placement of teachers and support staff into longer-term, contract, or maternity-cover assignments at schools, distinct from daily supply cover.
• Candidate Registration Portal Online portal that allows teachers, teaching assistants, and support staff to register, search vacancies, and apply for supply or long-term roles in the North West of England.

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Operam Education GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Parent company since 2019. Operam Education Group is a network of education recruitment agencies covering the North and Midlands. This partnership has offered new dynamic ways to improve how TES works through expert development and management, linking TES to a network of education recruitment agencies.
• Northorpe Hall Child and Family TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with West Yorkshire-based charity specialising in emotional wellbeing of children, young people, and families. Delivers bespoke CPD training for TES candidates including courses on mental health, pupil anxiety, ADHD, behaviour communication, staff wellbeing, autism, teenage brain, self-harm, self-esteem, attachment theory, and emotionally-based school avoidance.
• CPD Online CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership offering TES candidates access to wide range of safeguarding, wellbeing and subject-specific courses. Candidates receive 40% discount on all courses. Includes full range of safeguarding courses at various levels.
• Fischer Family Trust (FFT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership as part of National Tutoring Programme. FFT provides outcome data reporting and assessment tools. Operam Education Tutoring partners with FFT to deliver the Lightning Squad literacy tutoring programme. FFT Aspire online system used by 13,600 clients in UK for pupil data analysis and target setting.
• Success for AllcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTraining provider for the Lightning Squad Tutoring Programme. Provides access to online materials and conducts preparatory online sessions and detailed 1-day training courses for tutors. Facilitates experiential learning through Zoom group sessions.
• Nullam Well-beingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth and wellbeing partnership for employee wellness initiatives. Undertaking health and wellbeing survey with TES team members to plan relevant enrichment activities and services accessible via the workplace.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tes_supply

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Education Specialists