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Key Points

  • From September 2024 the NPQ SENCO replaces the NASENCO qualification.
  • SENCOs who have completed the NASENCO qualification can complete the NPQ SENCO.
  • NPQ SENCO is designed on the most up-to-date relevant research.
  • The NPQ SENCO will be delivered over an 18-month period.

  • Statutory Framework
  • Identification of need
  • School Culture
  • Teaching
  • Leading and managing provision
  • Behaviour
  • Professional development
  • Implementation

  • Delivered in Leeds by colleagues that have hands on practical experience of the SENCO role.
  • Local delivery, with a choice of location, allowing programme members who leading and/or overseeing SEN provision to build a local network.
  • Exceptional NPQ programme member feedback on all NPQs delivered.
  • A hybrid approach to learning a mixture of face-to-face seminars and online learning.
  • Leeds Teaching School Hubs delivery model allows us to go beyond the framework ensuring practical advice and guidance is encompassed into the programme.
  • 100% pass rate on all Leadership NPQ programmes.

  • Existing SENCOs
  • Assistant or aspiring SENCOs
  • Line managers of SENCOs
  • Senior Leaders
  • Other colleagues who wish to develop their expertise in SEND

Find Out More

To find out more about the DfE’s NPQ SENCO content framework download the framework.

Programme Framework

NPQ SENCO

A new leadership level national professional qualification for SENCOs will replace the existing qualification from September 2024.

Mandatory qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs)

In September 2009 it became law for every new SENCO in a mainstream school to gain the Master’s level national award for special educational needs co-ordinator (NASENCO) within 3 years of starting the job.

A new leadership level national professional qualification for SENCOs will replace the existing qualification. The Department for Education announced this in the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan, published in March 2023.

The national professional qualification will become the mandatory qualification for SENCOs from September 2024. Teaching of the national professional qualification for SENCOs will begin in autumn 2024.
The requirement to complete training within 3 years of appointment will continue to apply.

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National professional qualifications

National professional qualifications are designed to:

  • support teachers and leaders to develop expertise in specialist areas of teaching practice and school leadership
  • deliver improved outcomes for schools and young people

They are designed using the latest evidence. They can be completed around professionals’ existing commitments.

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Appropriate qualification for a SENCO

The national professional qualification for SENCOs will replace the NASENCO as the mandatory SENCO qualification from September 2024, and will be available from Autumn 2024. SENCOs who have successfully completed the NASENCO will not be required to complete the new national professional qualification.

The requirement to complete training within 3 years of appointment will continue to apply. Schools and SENCOs need to ensure that they are enrolled on training that will allow them to meet this requirement.
SENCOs can continue to sign up for the NASENCO qualification until the end of the academic year 2023 to 2024. SENCOs enrolled on a NASENCO course commencing in the 2023 to 2024 academic year will be recognised as fulfilling the mandatory training requirement so long as this is completed within 3 years of starting a SENCO post.

Where a SENCO starts in post during the 2023 to 2024 academic year and has not begun the NASENCO before September 2024, they will need to enrol on an NPQ course starting no later that Spring 2025 to meet the statutory requirements for the role.

Where an aspiring SENCO wishes to complete the NASENCO to meet the statutory requirements for the role, they must have started the NASENCO course before September 2024.

From September 2024, all SENCOs or aspiring SENCOs, that have not completed or started the NASENCO will be required to take the NPQ.

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