Research and analysis

Early years SENCO training programme: evaluation

Findings from the evaluation of the early years special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) training programme.

• From: Department for Education
• Published: 27 June 2025

Applies to England

Documents

Evaluation of the early years special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) training programme

Ref: ISBN 978-1-83870-666-1, RR1532

PDF, 2.03 MB, 182 pages

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Details

This report outlines the findings from the evaluation of the early years special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) training programme.

The programme was a 4-month online course, available from August 2022 to August 2024.

The research included:

• a survey of trainees
• interviews
• diary studies
• secondary data analysis
• regional case studies

It involved:

• trainees
• early years practitioners who did not take part in the programme, for comparison
• early years setting managers
• parents
• local authority representatives
• strategic stakeholders, such as training providers

The ‘Evaluation of the early years special educational needs coordinator training programme’ report is not accessible because it includes figures with images of text, tables with merged header cells and uses colour to convey meaning. This means it does not meet  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines success criteria 1.3.2, on meaningful sequence, 1.4.1, on sensory characteristics, or 1.4.5, on images of text.

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Published 27 June 2025