Yes. A multi-academy trust can appoint a shared, trust-wide SEND lead, and one person can be SENCO at more than one school. But each school still keeps its own legal duty to designate a qualified teacher as SENCO for it. The reason “shared SEND lead” trips people up is that it hides two separate questions. One is about a strategic trust role. The other is about the per-school designation that no trust can drop.
The two roles, and why they are not the same job
A trust-wide SEND lead, often titled Director of SEND, Trust SEND Lead, or executive SENCO, works strategically across all the trust’s schools. They align practice, share expertise, support newer staff, and steer provision at scale. Nothing in law prevents this, and many trusts do it well (Schools Week, 2024). The SENCO (special educational needs co-ordinator) designation is a different thing. It is a named, per-school duty: every mainstream school, including every academy and free school in a trust, must have a qualified teacher designated as SENCO for the school (SEND Code of Practice 2015, paras 6.84–6.85).
What the trust can and cannot do
The trust can appoint one strategic lead over the whole group. It can have one qualified teacher hold the SENCO designation at more than one school at once, the same way a head can run more than one site. What it cannot do is run several schools with no SENCO designated for them, or treat the trust-level appointment as a single box ticked for the group. The duty attaches to each school, so the designation has to be made, and the person has to meet the qualified-teacher rule, school by school (SEND Regulations 2014, reg 49).
The qualification follows the person
Whoever holds a school’s SENCO designation must be a qualified teacher (or the head), and a newly appointed SENCO without prior SENCO experience must gain the prescribed qualification within three years. Since 1 September 2024 that qualification is the SENCO National Professional Qualification (NPQ SENCO), which replaced the older NASENCO award (GOV.UK, 2024). The qualification follows the person, not the building, so one qualified lead covers the requirement however many schools they serve. A reform note for the longer term: the February 2026 Schools White Paper proposes changes to SEND, including a new statutory support-plan duty, but it is at consultation with nothing taking effect before September 2030, and it does not change the SENCO-designation duty as it stands today.
Where the law comes from
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 49 (qualified-teacher requirement and the SEN co-ordination qualification)
- SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (DfE/DoH, January 2015), paras 6.84–6.85
- SENCO National Professional Qualification (GOV.UK / DfE, mandatory since 1 September 2024)
- How multi-academy trusts are supporting pupils with SEND (Schools Week, 2024)
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.