What is the NPQ for SENCO?
The new NPQ for SENCO is a brand-new NPQ which will launch in November 2024. From September 2024, this new NPQ is the statutory required qualification for school, nursery and college SENCOs.
It’s an 18 month course delivered using a blend of online and face to face training sessions, small group coaching and self-study materials. We hold face to face sessions across England and deliver the NPQ for SENCO with local delivery partners across the country including teaching school hubs, diocese, multi-academy trust and other specialist organisations.
What will I learn on the course?
This 18-month course will enable you to:
- co-ordinate special educational needs (SEN) provision throughout your school
- work alongside other leaders to build a school culture in which pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can participate meaningfully in the full life of the school, achieve ambitious outcomes and make successful transitions to their next steps
During the course you’ll cover 8 units, which are:
- school culture
- statutory framework
- identification of need
- teaching
- behaviour
- leading and managing provision
- professional development
- implementation
What qualifications do I need to work as a SENCO in England?
All mainstream schools (including academies and free schools) must have a SENCO.
The SENCO must be a qualified teacher, or the headteacher, working at the school.
This NPQ will be the mandatory qualification for SENCOs from September 2024, with teaching beginning in November 2024.
This means that anyone who is working as SENCO must have completed the NPQ for SENCOs within the first 3 years of being in post.
SENCOs meet their statutory requirement on receiving the outcome of their NPQ (so this means that you must have begun the award within the first 12 months of starting a new role as a SENCO, so that there is time for you to complete the course and receive your award within the 3 years allocated).
If you’ve previously completed the NASENCO award you do not need to also complete the NPQ for SENCO.
Who is this course for?
The course is for those who are a SENCO or who aspire to be a SENCO, in a mainstream school or academy, independent school, special school, alternative provision setting or 16-19 organisation.
It is also suitable for:
- Non-teaching staff who support the SENCO, either formally as a deputy SENCO or leading a particular area of SEND provision within the school
- Line managers of SENCOs or other senior leaders with responsibility for curriculum, behaviour, pastoral needs or managing provision
- Those who work outside of a school setting but work closely with SENCOs, e.g. in a local authority.
- You don’t have to have secured a SENCO post to undertake this course and some applicants may not have QTS.
Will my school have to pay for the course?
There are a limited number of funded places available for NPQ SENCOs. In order to secure your funded place with the Church of England, applications will be processed by our national team and Delivery Partners, according to full application and sponsor submission dates.
To check if your setting is eligible for scholarship funding and for further information, please refer to the GOV.UK webpage on funding for NPQs.
If your school is not eligible for funding there is the option for schools to fund their participants joining the Church of England’s NPQSEND programme, for which the cost will be £1333.
