What does a fractional SEND service include?

A fractional SEND service is bought-in, part-time SEND expertise for an agreed number of days, covering SENCO support, EHCP and compliance work, provision mapping, audits, staff training and mentoring. You commission it by the day, as a retained package, or ad hoc, rather than employing a full-time SENCO. It is the model schools reach for when there is a vacancy, a long-term absence, a single SENCO stretched across sites, or budget pressure that rules out a full-time post.

What a fractional SEND service typically includes

Providers package the work differently, but a representative UK service covers most of the following, delivered on agreed days rather than as a full-time role:

• Operational SENCO support — running or supporting the day-to-day SENCO function, the SEN register, and the graduated approach.
• EHCP process and statutory-compliance guidance — needs assessments, annual reviews, and getting the paperwork right.
• Provision mapping — setting out what support each pupil gets and tracking whether it is working.
• Whole-school SEND reviews and audits, including SEND legal training.
• Staff training, CPD, and SENCO mentoring — building internal capacity rather than just covering gaps.
• Specialist consultancy and complex-case work, plus trust-wide strategic planning for a MAT.

The line a fractional service cannot cross

Here is the qualifier the marketing pages leave out. A fractional service can deliver or supplement the SENCO function, but it does not remove your school’s statutory duty to ensure a qualified teacher is designated as SENCO and is working at the school (SEND Code of Practice 2015, paras 6.84–6.85). If the fractional provider is the person you name as SENCO, they must meet that qualified-teacher test themselves. If they are not the named SENCO, the service is an add-on to the designated post, not a substitute for it. A newly appointed SENCO must also gain the NPQ SENCO (the National Professional Qualification, the current route since September 2024) within three years — so the provider’s qualification is part of what you are buying.

Why this matters before you commission

Smaller schools do have flexibility: the Code lets a smaller primary share a SENCO employed across schools, provided the role has enough time away from teaching and proper admin support (paras 6.92–6.94). But the designation duty stays with you whatever you buy in. It is also worth watching the direction of travel: the February 2026 Schools White Paper proposes a new Individual Support Plan duty on every school, which would widen the SEND-planning workload a fractional service is often bought to absorb (no changes before September 2030). For the related question of whether a bought-in SENCO can satisfy your duties, see what an outsourced SENCO service can and cannot replace and whether a SENCO has to be a qualified teacher.

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