Arrange cover for the whole leave period: the duty to have a designated, qualified-teacher SENCO is continuous. A cover SENCO holding the post under 12 months total need not start the NPQ SENCO (2026 rules).
The first step: keep the post filled
The legal duty sits with your governing body or academy proprietor, not the SENCO personally. A mainstream school must ensure a qualified teacher is designated as the SENCO at all times (Children and Families Act 2014, section 67). That duty does not pause for maternity leave, so the post cannot simply sit vacant until the SENCO returns. Decide your cover arrangement before the leave starts, name it in writing, and tell staff and families who is now the point of contact for SEND.
The reassurance: cover does not need the NPQ SENCO
The cover person must be a qualified teacher, but they do not have to hold or start the NPQ SENCO — the National Professional Qualification that replaced NASENCO as the mandatory SENCO qualification on 1 September 2024. The three-year clock to gain it only starts for someone who holds the post for a total of more than twelve months (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 49). A maternity cover of less than a year therefore triggers no qualification requirement. This is the point job adverts almost never spell out, and it widens your pool of cover candidates considerably.
Choosing a cover route
Three routes are common. The right one depends on the size of your SEND register, how much live casework is in flight, and whether you have a qualified teacher who can step up.
| Cover route | Best when | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|
| Internal redeployment — an existing qualified teacher (often an assistant or deputy SENCO) steps up | You already have a teacher who knows the children and the casework | Backfill their teaching; protect non-contact time so SEND work actually gets done |
| Fixed-term external SENCO — a maternity-cover appointment for the leave period | No internal candidate; a sizeable register needs a dedicated person | Allow lead time to recruit; a sub-12-month post needs no NPQ SENCO |
| Peripatetic or interim SENCO — shared via your trust or local authority, or brought in part-time | A smaller school, or you need cover at short notice | Agree which days they are on-site for time-bound statutory duties |
Keep the statutory clock running
Cover is not only about who sits in the SENCO chair. Several SEND duties are time-bound and will lapse if no one owns them during the gap. Name a responsible person — the cover SENCO, a senior leader, or both between them — for each of these:
- EHCP annual reviews that fall due during the leave
- Responding to EHC needs-assessment requests within the council's deadlines
- Exam access arrangements and their evidence trail
- Keeping the SEN information report current
Before the SENCO leaves, sit them down with the cover person and hand over live casework: which children have plans due, which families are mid-process, and which deadlines fall in the next term.
The governance backstop
Governors and trustees keep the legal duty to ensure the role is covered, so put the arrangement on a governing-body or board agenda before the leave begins. If cover falls through partway through the year, that is the body's problem to solve, not the returning SENCO's.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.