The 2022 SEND Green Paper and the SENCo: more evidence on demographics, qualifications, and leadership status

The 2022 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Review in England has proposed changes to the way in which SENCos are trained before working in English schools. Although the DfE collects data relating to the demographics of all teachers, the 2022 SEND Review Green Paper does not draw on this to support or inform the changes being proposed. A Freedom of Information request was made to the DfE, from which actual data could be acquired, with breakdowns by age, gender, qualifications and leadership status. The data describe a teacher who is still more likely to be female and approaching the middle of their career. Most SENCos are still on the class teacher pay scale rather than the leadership scale, with a minority holding a Master's-level qualification. The DfE does not have an accurate overview of how many teachers hold the current SENCo qualification. The article provides a number of recommendations to policymakers based on the data provided.