Within three years of taking up the post. A newly appointed SENCO must gain the NPQ SENCO (mandatory since September 2024) by the third anniversary of appointment; SENCOs who already hold the NASENCO are exempt.
Where the three-year rule comes from
The deadline is set in law. Under Regulation 49 of the SEND Regulations 2014, a person appointed as a SENCO on or after 1 September 2009 must hold the prescribed SENCO qualification if they are still the SENCO after the third anniversary of the date they became one. That is the three-year window. The qualification itself changed in 2024: from 1 September 2024 the prescribed qualification for anyone starting fresh is the NPQ SENCO, the National Professional Qualification for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators, which replaced the older NASENCO award.
The detail the headline figure misses
Three things trip schools up. First, the clock runs from the date the individual took up the post, not from a fixed national start date, so every SENCO has a different personal deadline. Second, some SENCOs are exempt entirely: anyone who already holds the NASENCO does not need the NPQ, and anyone who was a SENCO before 1 September 2009 is outside the requirement. Third, the NASENCO is now legacy. You cannot newly enrol on it, and the Department for Education transition guidance says a SENCO part-way through a NASENCO course that began before September 2024 still meets the requirement only if they finish it within their own three-year window and by 31 August 2027.
Why timing matters for the school
The practical trap is course length. The NPQ SENCO typically takes around 18 months to complete, so a school that waits until the second year of a new SENCO's appointment before enrolling them can run out of road before the third anniversary. Treat the three years as time to finish the qualification, not time to think about starting it. Funded places are available through the DfE-approved providers, so the route is open as soon as a SENCO is in post.
Where the law comes from
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This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.