Who is the SEND governor and what do they do?

The SEND governor is the governing-board member (or sub-committee) with oversight of a school's SEN and disability arrangements. They monitor provision and hold leaders to account, not run day-to-day support. The role sits in the SEND Code of Practice 2015, and is sometimes called the SEN governor or the SEND link governor; they are the same thing.

What the Code actually says

The basis for the role sits in paragraph 6.3 of the Code: there should be a member of the governing body, or a sub-committee, with specific oversight of the school's arrangements for SEN and disability (SEND Code of Practice 2015, para 6.3). Two words in that sentence do a lot of work, and most guidance glosses over them. First, it says should: the Code is statutory guidance issued under the Children and Families Act 2014, so a school has to have regard to it, but this is not an absolute legal duty to appoint one named person. Second, it says a member or a sub-committee, so a board that gives SEN oversight to a committee rather than a single governor still meets the expectation.

What the SEND governor does

The job is strategic oversight, not hands-on management. In practice that usually means:

• Meeting the SENCO each term to monitor how SEN provision is working and how the SEND budget is spent;
• Helping the board review the school's SEND policy and its SEN information report;
• Scrutinising data on the progress and attendance of pupils with SEND, and asking the questions that let the whole board hold leaders to account;
• Acting as a channel between the SENCO and the full governing board, and reporting back to it.

What the SEND governor does not do

This is the line the top results blur. The SEND governor does not manage the SENCO, review individual children's EHCPs or support plans, or run the day-to-day provision. That day-to-day work belongs to the SENCO and the headteacher. The Code is clear that the SENCO, a qualified teacher the governing body must designate, has day-to-day responsibility for the operation of SEN policy and the co-ordination of provision for individual pupils (paras 6.84-6.90). The governor scrutinises that work; they do not do it.

Where this is heading

This is current guidance and unlikely to shift soon. The 2026 Schools White Paper and the Education for All Bill propose Individual Support Plans and reshaped SEND duties over the next decade, but make no change to the governing board's SEN-oversight role, and nothing takes effect before September 2030.

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