NPQ SENCO
New mandatory qualification for SENCOs

The course consists of ten modules, delivered by blended learning. Each module involves approximately four hours of independent study. You’ll then engage in an online seminar, where you can discuss your learning with peers and experienced SEN leaders. Ongoing support is also available to ensure your success on the programme.

Each module features:

• Evidence-based online content to refresh and build knowledge, as well as exemplify what this looks like in your context.
• A formative assessment task to support your learning.
• Online seminars with a group of peers, facilitated by an experienced school leader and SENCO. You’ll analyse and reflect on the task and hear further examples of good practice.
• The opportunity to consolidate your learning and record reflections.

This structure offers opportunities to consider effective implementation as well as discrete learning, focused on theory and practice. This will help you to apply your learning and plan a strategic improvement focused on your context and pupils.

The programme also include one online and one in-person conferences. We have applied for and expect to be able to deliver the conference online, making this a fully online training option.

In total, you will complete 85 hours of training over 18 months.

At the end of the 18-month course you will have an assessment window of three months in which to complete a case study. There’s no large project to complete and the case study is your opportunity to showcase the skills and understanding you have gained throughout the course. It will be focused on a specific change initiative that will positively impact your setting and will be between 1,500 and 2,000 words in length. Tutors will be on hand to offer full support to help you prepare for this.

There are two assessment windows each year and should it be necessary, you could sit the assessment twice.

Build your understanding of supporting pupils with SEND:

• Develop a clear and ambitious vision for inclusion in your context and community. 
• Implement an efficient identification and assessment process 
• Support the delivery of effective provision and evidence-informed interventions 
• Use a range of data to monitor and evaluate the impact of support.

Grow your skills as a leader of SEND:

• Contribute to a positive and supportive school culture where staff and pupils can thrive
• Help ensure the school’s strategic direction sets ambitious standards for pupils with SEND 
• Work with other leaders to support effective curriculum planning and high-quality teaching 
• Enable teachers and support staff to implement the graduated approach 
• Support senior leaders to enact statutory guidance, including preparation of the SEND Information report and SEN policy.
• Work in partnership with other stakeholders including parents, external agencies and specialists

Draw on a range of experiences and research to inform decision-making in your context

• All modules are rooted in insights from academic research and best available evidence
• You’ll have the opportunity to visit contrasting settings to observe and understand SEND expertise in different contexts
• We’ll provide diverse exemplification of SEND leadership throughout, showcasing a variety of phases and contexts, including mainstream schools and specialist settings.  
• As part of each module, you’ll complete a formative assessment task and consider how to apply new learning to your context.

Free one-to-one support and coaching

If you work in a school serving disadvantaged communities, you may be able to access free one-to-one support which runs alongside the NPQ for SENCOs. This free support comes in the form of an experienced former school leader with strategic SEN experience who will coach and guide you throughout the programme.

Join a passionate network striving for educational equality

Share experiences with other school leaders and experienced SENCOs, learn how they’ve faced similar challenges and build a professional network that will support you throughout your career.

This course is ideal for:

• Those working in the SENCO role who need to achieve their qualification

and may be of interest if you are:

• An aspiring SENCO (whether or not you have secured a SENCO role)
• In a non-statutory ‘SENCO’ role for example in an independent school, special school, alternative provision setting or 16-19 organisation
• Supporting your setting’s SENCO, either formally as a deputy SENCO or leading a particular area of SEND provision within the school
• The Line Manager of a SENCO or other senior leaders with responsibility for curriculum, behaviour, pastoral needs or managing provision
• Outside of a school setting but working closely with SENCOs for example in a local authority

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

You do not need to hold QTS to access this course. However, in the vast majority of cases the course is not likely to be appropriate for teaching assistants and teachers without QTS, as QTS is a requirement to be a SENCO. This course is also unlikely to be suitable for staff who coordinate SEND for adult-only education, or lead disability provision in a non-education setting.

Non-leadership roles

The DfE advise that ‘Classroom teachers with an interest in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) may benefit from the course, for example, if they have aspirations to move into a coordinating or leadership role. Please note that this is a leadership qualification and there is significant content around the strategic element of the SENCO role, including working with and through others. If you are more interested in developing individual skills to support students with SEND in your own classroom, other courses may be more suitable.’

International delegates

At this time, Real Training is not offering this course to international participants however our International Award for SEN Coordination (iSENCO) is specifically designed for those working to coordinate or manage SEND in international schools.

Real Training has an established reputation for the delivery of high-quality SEND and SENCO training, built over 20 years, by providing world-class professional development and special needs training to educators around the world. In addition to SEND expertise, you’ll also have access to contributions by our team of Educational Psychologists at the in-person conferences you will attend.

Our courses are taught online, allowing you to access your studies at whatever time or place suits you best, and schedule your learning to fit around your work and personal commitments.

Completing the NPQ with us means you are able to bring in 30 credits as recognition of prior learning towards any of our masters programmes.

DfE NPQ scholarship funding

Nationally there is a strict limit on the number of DfE scholarships that are available for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (NPQ for SENCOs).

We have now allocated all of our funded places for the October 2024 cohort.

For further information, and to check if your setting is eligible for scholarship funding, please see the information on funding for NPQs on the GOV.UK website.

For those not eligible for a funded place, the cost is £1,265. This rate is effectively subsidised by the DfE.

The next cohort will start in Spring 2025.

This is an 18 month programme, followed by a 3 to 4-month assessment window. This makes it 21-22 months in total.

If you are currently studying, or have already achieved the National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCO) you will not need to complete the SENCO NPQ.

SENCOs appointed prior to 1 September 2009, or those that have already completed, or are in the process of completing the National Award for SEN Coordination, are not required to study the NPQ.

To start the application process, please complete our online booking form.