Can a school share a SENCO between sites?

Yes. One SENCO can cover a split-site school, and separate schools (even within a trust) can share one person. But each school keeps its own legal duty to designate a qualified SENCO with enough time to do the job. The SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) duty attaches to the school, not to a building, so the question is never simply whether one person can cover two places. It is whether each school that person serves still meets its own duty (Children and Families Act 2014, s.67).

One school over two sites, versus two separate schools

The distinction that decides this is whether you are looking at one legal school spread over two sites, or two separate schools that share staff. A single split-site school is one school in law: it has one governing body, one URN, and one duty to designate a SENCO. One SENCO covering both of its sites is straightforward, the way one head teacher covers both sites. Where it changes is when two or more separate schools, even inside one multi-academy trust or federation, want to share a person. That is lawful too, and nothing in the regulations bars one qualified teacher from being SENCO at more than one school. But the duty does not merge: each school must designate that person as its own SENCO and remains independently accountable for the role (SEND Regulations 2014, regs 49–50).

The shared or executive SENCO model

This arrangement is common enough to have a name. Trusts and federations often appoint a shared SENCO or executive SENCO who holds the designation across a small cluster, sometimes with a SEN lead or higher-level teaching assistant doing day-to-day work on each site under their direction. The model is fine on paper. What the trust cannot do is treat the appointment as one box ticked for the whole group. The SEND Code of Practice frames the test per school: there must be a qualified teacher designated as SENCO, and the school must ensure that person has sufficient time and resources to carry out the role (SEND Code of Practice 2015, paras 6.84–6.89).

Why the per-school duty is the one that bites

A shared SENCO stretched too thin can leave a school in breach of the “sufficient time” duty even though the bare “designate a SENCO” box is ticked. Each school has to be able to show, on its own, that its SENCO has the time the caseload needs, so the time has to be carved out and recorded school by school, not pooled. The qualification rule works the other way round: it follows the person, not the site. Since 1 September 2024 the National Professional Qualification for SENCOs (NPQ SENCO) is the mandatory qualification, to be gained within three years of appointment, with NASENCO remaining valid where it was completed by 31 August 2027 (GOV.UK, 2024). One qualification covers the person however many schools they serve.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.