How do we recruit a SENCO in a SENCO shortage?

Fill the post from inside first

Appoint any qualified teacher to the SENCO role now — the law only requires a qualified teacher, not a ready-trained one, and they have three years from appointment to complete the mandatory NPQ SENCO. The duty to have a designated SENCO sits with the governing body and is immediate: it does not pause while you advertise. So the first move in a shortage is not to keep searching the open market for someone who already holds the qualification — it is to designate a qualified teacher you already employ, or redeploy one into the role. The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) is the person who co-ordinates support for pupils with special educational needs.

Then book the NPQ within the three-year window

Once a teacher is designated, enrol them on the National Professional Qualification for SENCOs. Since 1 September 2024 the NPQ SENCO is the prescribed qualification, replacing the old NASENCO award. A SENCO new to the role has until the third anniversary of their appointment to gain it, so a newly designated teacher is fully compliant from day one provided you start the qualification within that window.

Cost is rarely the blocker. The NPQ SENCO is delivered by DfE-accredited providers, and scholarship funding is available, so training a serving teacher into the role is usually free or close to it. Book a place early in the school year — provider cohorts fill, and you want the clock you control (training) running well inside the clock you do not (the three-year deadline).

If you genuinely cannot resource a full post

Three lawful routes keep you compliant while recruitment continues:

1. Share a SENCO across small primaries. The SEND Code of Practice lets several smaller primary schools employ one shared SENCO between them, provided that person has no significant class-teaching commitment, is not also a headteacher at one of the schools, and the arrangement is reviewed for any negative impact on provision.
2. Pool the role through a federation or trust. A federation or multi-academy trust can resource a SENCO centrally and deploy capacity where the need is, rather than each school competing for the same scarce candidate.
3. Commission interim or specialist-teacher cover. An interim SENCO or bought-in specialist can hold casework while you grow your own post-holder — though the designated post itself must still be a qualified teacher on your staff.

The retention levers that actually move the dial

Recruiting is half the problem; keeping the person is the other half. The Code recommends — but does not mandate — that the SENCO sits on the senior leadership team and has sufficient release time and administrative support. In a tight market these are your strongest levers: protect non-contact time, give the role genuine SLT status, and grade it competitively. A SENCO with no release time and no seat at the leadership table is a SENCO you will be re-recruiting within two years.

• See also how long new SENCOs have to gain the NPQ SENCO and whether a school can share a SENCO between sites.

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