National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordination (NASENCo)

Leeds Trinity University provides postgraduate training to professionalise the SENCo role, improve pupil outcomes and to invest in and retain current SENCos.

It is a requirement that all schools have a qualified SENCo and all new to role SENCos will need to achieve this qualification within three years of taking up their post. 

This course is taught over ten teaching days over a period of a year or across an academic year. You will focus on both SENCo as practitioner and SENCo as leader across two modules.

You will be asked to explore the reasons why a child cannot access learning and will develop innovative ways to remove barriers to progression for children and young people with SEND. You will develop skills to critically evaluate policy and provision to develop outstanding inclusive practice with children and care givers. 

You will also develop skills to understand each child’s needs and start the journey to becoming an expert in identification and assessment to allow personalised planning and support to be developed so no child is left behind in their educational journey.

Celebrating strengths in children and planning for teaching methods which incorporate these will be explored in detail.

You will develop:

• Professional knowledge and understanding that you as a SENCo will need.
• Expertise and capabilities that a SENCo needs to lead and coordinate effective provision.
• Personal and professional qualities that are specific to your role, and will be key in you making a positive impact on the ethos and culture in your setting will also be explored and developed.

You will evaluate evidence-based practice on learning, teaching and assessing students with SEND, such as the impact of research evidence on different literacy schemes or the impact of CPD on support staff effectiveness in schools.

The course is delivered as blended learning with on-campus days, work-based tasks and activities on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

The course will take place within our excellent School of Teacher Education in the Institute of Childhood and Education at Leeds Trinity University, with the support of our on-campus support services such as the library and Learning Hub. You will have a personal tutor who will support you in developing your own school-based practice and in submitting your final work-based portfolio.

Why study with us?

• Developed for SENCos by SENCos, with the now-legal requirement as its focus.
• The course is aligned with the national outcomes for the NASENCo qualification and the national strategy which focuses on the development of skilled professionals who work in a range of provision in both mainstream and specialist settings.
• Learn from staff who are highly experienced in SEND practice.
• Receive highly personalised learning to help you develop your skills and school-based practice to work strategically in educational settings.
• Grow your professional networks with practitioners and leaders in the field of SEN.
• Benefit from campus-based learning, with personal tutors and support services such as our Learning Hub, which provides personalised academic support, and our library. 
• Progress onto further postgraduate study or research, using credits gained on the course towards a postgraduate diploma or Master's degree.
• On completion of the course, join our Leeds Trinity Alumni community and benefit from our networks, research and conference opportunities.
• Enhance your career opportunities within SEN, senior leadership or consultancy to education providers.
• Leeds Trinity University is on the LLSENDCIC (Leading Learning for Send Community Interest Company) Register of Quality Providers for our National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordination (NASENCo) programme.

Career progression

After completing the PG Cert, you could apply for new opportunities within SEN, as well as promotions to senior leadership roles. SENCos could also provide consultancy to other schools in a Multi Academy Trust, or undertake further postgraduate study and research.

You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

On this part-time course, you will complete two modules and you will also complete a portfolio of work-related tasks for each.

These portfolios will be the assessment element of the course. The tasks included in each portfolio will help you apply theory to your practice in supporting children with SEND learning.

SENCo as Practitioner 

This module will focus on your work understanding and implementing the statutory and regulatory framework. You will focus your work on the graduated approach and the four areas of SEN. There will be a significant focus on your personal and professional skills linked to child-centred approaches and developing the practice of quality first teaching to meeting these. You will develop a practitioner enquiry on a child within your provision and submit a portfolio based on your own provision and work within it.

SENCo as Leader 

This module will focus on developing your leadership skills to developing your school provision to improve outcomes for SEND. Leading in the SENCo role will be the focus of this module. You will learn best practice in collecting and using data. You will develop a deeper understanding about developing whole school provision for SEND. There will be content linked to the effective management of support staff and developing a coaching culture in your school to support teaching staff to develop effective practice in their classrooms. The SENCo as leader of CPD will also be an area of exploration to develop whole school improvement. You will complete a practitioner enquiry on leading and developing your own provision linked to your developing leadership skills in SEND and you will submit your second portfolio based on this work.

Independent Learning

There is an expectation that you will study and undertake independent learning outside of campus study days.

We understand the challenges of SENCo workload and have designed the course and have developed assignments linked to your core role in school or setting. There is a significant amount of choice in the portfolio development and tutorials can help you personalise your learning to your own needs and specific SEND areas of interest.

For students attending our course partnered with Leeds City Council

There will be a contextual session giving input into the Leeds Strategy for SEND and the services available to support your work. You will have access to SENDIT staff at key points over the year to help support your work. You will be offered two optional study support days on campus.

At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.

Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:

• high quality teaching
• an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
• a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.

We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.

We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:

• Student Involvement and Engagement
• Inclusion
• Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
• Digital Literacy and Skills
• Employability and Enterprise

To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.

We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:

• Personalised support
• Expert lecturers
• Strong connections with employers
• An international outlook
• Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development

Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits; we value highly the experience you illustrate in your personal statement.

The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, please contact our Admissions Office who will be happy to advise you.

Applicants with QTS/QTLS/EYTS status

You will need to be a teacher who holds Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) or Early Year Teacher Status (EYTS) working in or with access to an educational setting.

You may work in a range of settings and be from a range of local authorities in or outside of our region. 

You must be:

• A designated or deputy SENCo 
• An aspirant SENCo
• An inclusion manager
• In a position to undertake or support some of the SENCo duties over an extended period.

You will also need to have completed an induction period.

You will need a document of support from your head teacher and an understanding that you will be involved in ten days of learning on campus over the course of the year or across an academic year.

You will need to complete an application form and send a letter of support with the form from your setting. 

Applicants without QTS/QTLS/EYTS status

If you are not a qualified teacher and work within special needs co-ordination in a provision you can apply to undertake the course, however whilst you will not gain the NASENCo, you would receive the award of PGCert Special Educational Needs Co-ordination. You would need the support of your establishment in undertaking the course due to the work-based learning focus of the course. This includes the portfolio development based on your work in your setting. You will also need to complete an application form and send a letter of support with the form from your Headteacher.

This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.

For more information on entry requirements, email admissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk 

UK Home Students:

For information about our tuition fees please visit our Student Fees and Finance pages.

Download the application form below. This course is not available to students on a Student Route Visa.

Return the completed form to our admissions team:

admissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk 

Admissions Team
Leeds Trinity University
Horsforth
Leeds
LS18 5HD

There is no official closing date for applications, but the course will be closed when it is full. We therefore encourage you to make your application as early as possible.

Please ensure you complete the application form in full and supply all the required supporting documentation when you make your initial application. Incomplete applications may be rejected.

If you need advice on your application, please contact our admissions team on 0113 283 7123 (Monday to Thursday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, or Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm) or admissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk.

What happens next?

Our admissions team will acknowledge receipt of your application by email. Where applications are submitted but references are still in progress, admissions will wait for the reference(s) to be received and then will process it, and forward to the relevant Programme Leader within five days of receipt of the reference(s).

The Programme Leader will either make a decision based on your application or invite you to attend an interview.

If you're selected for an interview, you'll be contacted with details within ten days of your application being processed.

The admissions team will notify you of your interview outcome in writing within five working days of receiving a decision from the Programme Leader.

Made an offer?

You should accept or decline your offer by emailing admissions@leedstrinity.ac.uk.

If you accept, you'll need to prove you satisfy the conditions outlined in your offer letter.

You may be asked to present the relevant supporting documentation in person to the student information point on campus, if originals are not needed you’ll be contacted and given details of how to provide the supporting documentation.

Download pg cert-nasenco-application-form