NPQSENCO: NPQ Special Educational Needs Coordinator

New programme

A new programme designed to equip teachers and school leaders within the SEND landscape.

The new NPQ for SENCOs programme aims to develop participants' professional knowledge and critical understanding of key concepts and debates addressed in the academic and professional literature, in order to lead and coordinate special educational needs and disability (SEN and D) provision across an educational setting.

About the programme

• Why join UCL?
• What will you learn?
• What are the benefits for you?
• What are the benefits for your school?
• Is this programme for me?
• How long will it take?
• When will it start and how much will it cost?
• Are scholarships available for this programme?
• Programme route map
• Contact us

Autumn 2025 cohort

Why join UCL?

The UCL Centre for Educational Leadership looks forward to working with you on their newly designed NPQ supporting you to deepen your knowledge of Special Educational Needs Leadership within a collaborative and open learning environment.
 
Based on the latest research and evidence this new programme will enable you to take your new learning and develop your skills and put them into practice.

Our programmes put you and your school at the heart of the programme through a professional learning group approach that helps you to share your thinking and understanding within a well-planned framework. You will experience a blended approach of face to face, self-directed study materials and in school support to enable you to progress professionally and develop networks to enhance your career.

What will you learn?

• School Culture – You will develop and sustain an inclusive, strengths-based, school culture through contributing to its strategic direction, managing resources and fulfilling the statutory duties to enable all pupils and teachers to thrive and succeed.
• Behaviour – You will be able to contribute and implement the development of good models of behaviour and learning across the whole school community including adapting behaviour approaches to meet the needs of individual pupils and liaising with and training key stakeholders to ensure a safe learning environment for all.
• Implementation – You will learn how to implement change successfully within your context by understanding the stages of implementation and applying them with the support of your facilitators and colleagues.
• Statutory framework – You will strengthen your knowledge of the legal basis for the SEND Code of Practice and how to work with key stakeholders and leaders to assist your school in meeting its statutory duties and support effective provision to pupils with SEN.
• Identification of need – You will learn how to work with teachers and leaders to identify the needs of pupils and develop policies and processes to address them including how to monitor and evaluate the impact of support and targeted intervention.
• Leading and managing provision – You will learn how to work with other leaders to implement, monitor and evaluate SEN provision effectively.

What are the benefits for you?

Our participants have noted many benefits to studying for a UCL Leadership NPQ. Overall, they outline how the programme has given them professional confidence, time and space to reflect on themselves and the kind of leader they want to become and increased knowledge, capacity and skills in their chosen area of study.

You will be able to:

• Develop the skills, confidence and knowledge to implement new initiatives and approaches successfully through a supported implementation project.
• Understand what level your skill set is at and recognise what this means for your career path and future professional learning.
• Develop your own leadership persona to become more visible to colleagues.
• Increase your understanding of the legal basis of the statutory framework and the how to implement policies and processes lead and manage SEN provision.
• Recognise that change must go through stages and sub-stages and that it must be planned effectively at the outset with clearly defined planned outcomes and processes for ongoing monitoring.
• Access research and materials and have many opportunities to discuss a variety of professional development approaches and models with other teachers.

What are the benefits for your school?

We know that our children and young people need teachers who are committed to their education and are confident learners themselves. Our programmes have been developed with teachers and leaders to:
 

• Create professionally confident teachers and leaders.
• Grow the next generation of leaders with the skills and knowledge to use the evidence-base for the benefit of their children and young people.
• Retain the best teachers who are excellent, collaborative role models for their schools and communities.
• Inspire leaders who are able to harness the power of rich learning environments for their children and young people no matter their starting points or the current circumstances.
• Ensure that all schools have a SENCO who holds the mandatory SEND qualification.

Is this programme for me?

• Yes, if you are currently working as a SENCO.
• Yes, if you are interested in developing expertise in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or undertaking a SENCO role in future.

Please be aware that the NPQ programmes require a level of proficiency in the use of English equivalent to that of Master’s level study. In particular, participants are expected to demonstrate a high standard of language competency at summative assessment as this is a key requirement of an effective school leader.

A prospective participant who is not confident about their competency at this level is at risk of being unsuccessful due to the English language demands of the programme. UCL does not require participants to formally prove that they have this level of proficiency, but if you are in doubt about this then you should contact UCL prior to applying for a place on an NPQ programme. 

How long will it take?

18 months followed by an eight day open book summative case study task.

When will it start and how much will it cost?

The programme will start in November 2025. There will be a national induction conference in Birmingham taking place on Wednesday 3 December 2025. Information will be provided as part of your welcome email following the application process. Participants are required to attend the in-person event. A live stream and then a recording will be made available on Extend for those unable to attend or who are based out of region/international.

The cost is £1,265 (+VAT) for those in independent schools. British International Schools, please contact your preferred International Delivery Partner.

The cost is £1,265 (+VAT) for those in independent schools. British International Schools, please contact your preferred International Delivery Partner.

Are scholarships available for this programme?

Information for scholarship funding can be found at GOV.UK. 

Programme route map

Route map (text version)

*Please note, NPQ Mentors will be asked to complete a short Programme Impact Report at the end of module 2 and 3 to gauge how engagement with the programme is supporting School / Improvement. This is separate from the Line Manager / Mentor Check-in which is more participant focused.

Runs over 18 months: Implementation Project: Work-based reflective learning, integrating research with practice and aligned to the EEF process model for school improvement (not assessed).

After 18 months: Final Summative Assessment (April 2026 – May 2026).