New regulations have been laid before Parliament requiring Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators in schools (SENCOs) to be qualified teachers.  The Education (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators) (England) Regulations 2008 come into force on 1^st September 2009.  By that date, all SENCOs need to have qualified teacher status (QTS) and to be teaching at their school - which would rule out sharing a SENCO between several schools.  The only exceptions are (a) where the head teacher is the SENCO but is not in fact a qualified teacher (legally possible) and (b) where the SENCO has been in post for at least six months on 31^st August 2009 and the school's governing body is satisfied that he/she is taking steps to obtain QTS and stands a reasonable prospect of achieving it by September 2011.  The regulations do not say what will happen if such a person fails to obtain QTS by that date.

Written by Ian Jones, Barrister at New Walk Chambers, specialising in Education Law