What is an interim SENCO?

An interim SENCO is a Special Educational Needs Coordinator covering a vacancy or leave temporarily. The role carries the same legal duties as a permanent SENCO: a qualified teacher leading the school's SEN provision.

It is not a separate or lesser category

Schools usually start looking for an interim SENCO in a hurry, after a resignation, long-term sickness or maternity leave. The recruitment adverts that fill the search results describe the duties well enough, but most of them miss the point that matters legally: "interim" is not a separate statutory category. If the interim person is your designated SENCO, the same rules apply to them as to a permanent post-holder.

In a mainstream school in England, the SENCO must be a qualified teacher, or the head teacher or acting head teacher, working at the school (the SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 49). The governing body or academy trust also has a continuing duty to make sure a qualified teacher is designated as SENCO and that the school's SEN provision keeps running. That duty does not pause while the post is filled on an interim basis.

The NPQ qualification clock can still apply

Since 1 September 2024 the NPQ for SENCOs (National Professional Qualification) is the mandatory qualification for new SENCOs, replacing the NASENCO award. A newly appointed SENCO has to gain it within three years of appointment, unless they have already been a SENCO for more than 12 months in total or already hold the NASENCO.

This is why "interim" needs handling with care. Two common situations look different:

• The interim person is your designated SENCO. The three-year qualification window from appointment can apply to them, so schools usually engage someone who already holds the NPQ for SENCOs (or the legacy NASENCO).
• Genuinely short-term cover. Where the substantive SENCO is still in post but absent, the school is covering a gap rather than making a fresh appointment. Schools should record clearly who the designated SENCO is and how the statutory duties are being met during the absence.

Why the distinction matters for schools

Treating an interim SENCO as exempt from the qualified-teacher rule, or as a lighter-touch version of the role, is where schools come unstuck. The day-to-day operation of the SEN policy, the coordination of provision, and the school's duties around having a SENCO at all all continue. An interim arrangement is a way of meeting those duties through a gap, not a way of standing them down.

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