Locum SEN support is temporary, agency-supplied cover for special educational needs roles in schools — most often an interim SENCO covering maternity, a vacancy or extra capacity, plus SEN teachers, TAs and specialists.
What the term actually covers
"Locum" is borrowed from the way the NHS covers a doctor's post temporarily, and recruitment agencies now use it for SEN staffing. In practice it usually means an interim SENCO (the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator), but it also covers temporary SEN teachers, teaching assistants, specialist staff such as a speech and language practitioner, and SEN consultants brought in for a fixed piece of work. Schools reach for it for predictable reasons:
- Cover for absence — maternity leave or long-term sickness leaving the substantive post-holder out for a term or more.
- An unfilled vacancy — a resignation mid-term, in a recruitment market where the right SENCO can be hard to find quickly.
- A sudden rise in caseload — a spike in EHCP work or annual reviews that the current team cannot absorb.
- Expertise you do not hold in-house — a one-off review, a tribunal contribution, or specialist assessment.
A temporary post does not lower the bar
This is the point the agency landing pages leave out. A locum or interim arrangement does not relax your legal obligations. In a mainstream or maintained nursery school in England, the governing body still has to designate a member of staff as the SEN co-ordinator (Children and Families Act 2014, section 67), and that duty does not pause while a post is covered temporarily. The SENCO must be a qualified teacher whether the appointment is permanent, interim or locum.
The qualification clock runs too. Since 1 September 2024 the SENCO National Professional Qualification (NPQ) is the mandatory qualification for newly appointed SENCOs, replacing the NASENCO award. A new SENCO who is not exempt has to gain it within three years of taking up post. So if your locum SENCO is your designated post-holder, that window can apply to them, which is why schools usually engage someone who already holds the NPQ for SENCOs (or the legacy NASENCO, valid where completed by 31 August 2027).
Why this matters before you engage someone
Treating a locum as a lighter-touch version of the role is where schools come unstuck. The same pre-engagement checks apply as for a permanent appointment: confirm qualified teacher status, an enhanced DBS and safeguarding clearance, and record clearly who legally holds the SENCO designation while cover is in place. The SEND Code of Practice sets out what that person is being brought in to deliver: overseeing the SEN policy and register, EHCP processes, and liaison with parents and outside services. Engaging a locum is a way of meeting those duties through a gap, not a way of standing them down.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.