What is the role of the early years SENCO?

The early years SENCO coordinates support for children with special educational needs in a nursery or early years setting: identifying SEN, advising colleagues, involving parents and liaising with outside professionals. SENCO stands for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. The role is the setting's hub for SEN: not the only person who supports a child, but the one who makes sure the support is joined up.

What the role covers

The SEND Code of Practice (paragraph 5.54) and the DfE's guidance The role of the Early Years SENCO set out the core responsibilities:

• Making sure all practitioners understand their responsibilities to children with SEN and the setting's approach to identifying and meeting it;
• Advising and supporting colleagues;
• Ensuring parents are closely involved and that their insights inform the action the setting takes;
• Liaising with professionals or agencies beyond the setting, such as health visitors, speech and language therapists, or the local authority;
• Continually developing their own practice.

Underneath those duties sits the early years foundation stage framework, which requires every setting to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with SEN and to promote equality of opportunity (Children and Families Act 2014, Part 3). The SENCO is how a setting makes those arrangements work in practice.

Who must have a SENCO depends on the setting

This is the part most summaries blur. The requirement is not the same for every type of early years provision (SEND Code of Practice 2015, paragraphs 5.52-5.53):

• Maintained nursery schools must designate a qualified teacher with QTS as SENCO, who should hold or gain the relevant SEN co-ordination qualification or have equivalent experience.
• Group provision in the private, voluntary and independent sector is expected to identify a SENCO. There is no QTS requirement here; in practice the SENCO is often a Level 3 practitioner.
• Childminders are encouraged to identify a person to act as SENCO, and those registered with an agency may share the role across the agency.

One qualification point worth being clear on: the National Professional Qualification for SENCOs, which became mandatory for new school SENCOs on 1 September 2024, applies to schools and maintained nursery schools, not to PVI early years settings. A SENCO in a nursery or pre-school does not need it. The Level 3 SENCO award remains the common training route in the PVI sector.

Not the same as the Area SENCO

The setting's own SENCO is a different role from the local authority's Area SENCO. The Area SENCO is an external adviser the council provides to support a range of settings across its area, build capacity and link them to wider services (SEND Code paragraphs 5.55-5.58). They are not the in-house coordinator. If your setting is unsure who to turn to, the Area SENCO is a source of advice, but the responsibilities above stay with the setting's designated person.

Looking ahead, the 2026 Schools White Paper and the Education for All Bill propose an Individual Support Plan duty across early years and schools over the coming years. Nothing has changed yet, and the early years SENCO role stands as described.

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