School SENCOs

Guidance and links to useful documents related to the SENCO role.

Universally Available Provision (UAP)

The UAP forms the core set of inclusive teaching and support strategies offered to every child. This includes children with and without Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). It applies across all education settings, such as:

early years settings,
primary schools,
secondary schools, and
post-16 provision.

Levels of support covered include:

Universal - standard support for all students. No special assessment required.
Targeted - additional, often short-term support. This is for pupils who need more than the universal offer.
Targeted Plus - for pupils who need more specialist support. Schools will be able to draw on the new “experts at hand” service. This aims to improve access to education and health professionals.
Specialist - highly personalised support for complex, long-term needs. This often involves external experts.

The UAP also covers expectations and strategies about:

Leadership, including culture and ethos
Inclusive teaching, learning and assessment
Belonging, relationships and wellbeing
Removing barriers and meeting needs through environments
Physical, sensory and medical needs
Involving pupils, parents / carers, families and the wider community

Universally Available Provision Booklet (May 2026) [5.4 MB] [pdf].

Additional needs plan

Additional needs plans are for:

pupils with SEND who are falling behind
looked-after children
those who have previous exclusions

Time-limited Inclusion Grant (TIG)

This grant helps schools fund short-term intervention that:

does not require an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
can be met by the school, working with support services
exceeds the notional SEN budget (or targeted funding in early years)

This guidance explains when an application is appropriate and how to apply:

Please note that the time frame for submitting a TIG application is 10 working days.

Due to current demand, applications will be limited to a maximum of 12 per panel. This is to ensure adequate reading time for the panel and ensure that informed decisions are made on the day of the panel.

Applications will be on a ‘first come first served’ basis and an application may need to be put back to the next panel date if there are more than 12 applications received.

The dates for the panel meetings for 2026-27 are listed below:

21 September
26 October
09 November
14 December
20 January
11 February
15 March
08 April
06 May
03 June
05 July

Identification of SEND

Guidance for identification of SEND in schools [194.0 KB] [docx]

Support for all - guide for staff and families

This guide outlines the provision that should be available to all children and young people. It covers maintained schools, academies, free schools, early years and post-16 providers.

Expectations for All Settings (Universally Available Provision) | East Sussex Local Offer

The SENCO role

SENCOs and their line managers

Effective SENCO deployment

A guide for SENCOs and their managers which was created by experienced SENCOs in primary and secondary. It helps line managers support SENCOs to enable more children with SEND to thrive in school.

Inclusion Strategy

Schools must publish an Inclusion Strategy on their website by 31 December 2026.

The Inclusion Strategy should explain how the school is working to remove barriers to learning and participation for all pupils. It should describe the actions the school will take and the impact it aims to achieve. The strategy must also include the budgeted costs for planned activities.

Schools can choose to publish a one-year or multi-year strategy. If a school uses a multi-year strategy, it must review the document every year. The annual review should be noted on the cover page.

Guidance for developing an Inclusion Strategy is available at: Developing an inclusion strategy using the Inclusive Mainstream Fund - GOV.UK

Inclusion Strategy Template

Inclusion Strategy and SEND Policy

The Inclusion Strategy does not replace the school's SEND Policy.

The SEND Code of Practice requires schools to maintain an up-to-date SEND Policy. The Inclusion Strategy and SEND Policy are separate documents and both must be in place.

Schools must review their SEND Policy regularly. The governing body should review and approve the policy every year to ensure it reflects current legislation, guidance and local arrangements.

Key Requirements