Yes — the law sets no minimum hours, so a fractional SENCO is lawful if they are a qualified teacher at your school with enough time and resources to discharge every statutory duty. Nothing in the Children and Families Act 2014, the SEND Regulations 2014 or the SEND Code of Practice prescribes a number of hours, days or full-time equivalent for the role. A part-time, shared or 0.X SENCO is permitted by law. The compliance question is about capacity, not about the contract.
What the law actually requires
Your governing body or trust must designate a SENCO who is a qualified teacher working at the school (section 67(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014; regulation 49 of the SEND Regulations 2014). If the person is newly appointed and has not been a SENCO for more than 12 months, they must gain the prescribed qualification within three years of taking up the post. Since 1 September 2024 that qualification is the NPQ for SENCOs (the National Professional Qualification); NASENCO, the older National Award, remains valid where it is already held. None of these rules attaches a minimum FTE to the role.
Where a fractional role becomes a breach
The Code says the school should ensure the SENCO has sufficient time and resources to carry out the role, including administrative support and time away from teaching (paragraph 6.91). A fractional contract is only a problem when the allocation is too thin for the person to discharge every duty — reviewing provision, keeping the SEN register, leading the graduated response, advising colleagues, and reporting to governors. The breach is not the part-time arrangement itself; it is a SENCO stretched too thin to do the job.
| Question | Fractional contract | Sufficient capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Lawful? | Yes — no minimum hours in law | Required — the Code’s “sufficient time” test |
| Who owns it? | Governing body / trust designates | Governing body / trust allocates and protects the time |
| What is judged? | The teacher’s status | Whether every statutory function is actually discharged |
How to size the role safely
The duty to get this right sits with the governing body or trust, not with the SENCO. They must determine the role’s place in the leadership and management of the school and monitor how effectively the SENCO is carrying out the statutory functions (regulation 50). There is no prescribed figure, but local-authority guidance commonly treats less than roughly one working day a week as too little for the role to be done well in any setting, with most schools needing considerably more. A small primary may lawfully share a SENCO across schools; two secondaries sharing a single SENCO is far harder to square with the “sufficient time” test. Keep an eye on reform too: the 2026 Schools White Paper and Education for All Bill propose a universal Individual Support Plan duty that would add to the planning workload the SENCO function has to absorb, so size a new fractional role with some headroom.
A fractional SENCO meeting the qualification rule is necessary but not sufficient. Designating the right person does not, on its own, make the school compliant; protecting and monitoring enough time for them to do the job is what does. See our related answers on whether a SENCO has to be a qualified teacher and whether every school needs a SENCO.
Where the law comes from
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 49 — the SENCO must be a qualified teacher at the school and gain the qualification within three years
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 50 — appropriate authority must determine the SENCO's role and monitor effectiveness
- SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (DfE/DoH, January 2015), paras 6.84-6.85 and 6.91 — designation duty and 'sufficient time and resources'
- Children and Families Act 2014, s.67(2) — duty to designate a SEN co-ordinator
- Special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO): National Professional Qualification (GOV.UK / DfE, 2024)
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.