What school governors need to know about the SEND link governor role

March 18, 2026

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The role of a SEND link governor has never been more in focus. Over the past year, governing boards across England have seen new DfE guidance on SEND responsibilities, a completely revised Ofsted inspection framework and a Schools White Paper that sets out significant changes to how SEND support will work in the coming years.

If you’re a school governor or trustee with SEND responsibility, this guide is your starting point.

In this blog, we’ve broken down what you’re expected to do as school governors, what the current law requires and what good practice looks like in 2026 and beyond.

 

First, let’s look at the basics

 

Where the SEND governor role comes from

The SEND link governor role exists because of the SEND Code of Practice, which is statutory guidance all schools in England must follow.

It says there should be a member of the governing body with ‘specific oversight of the school’s SEN and disability arrangements’.

A new SEND Code of Practice is due to be released, it was mentioned in the SEND Reform consultation document as one of the key 13 changes they proposed.

 

What does and doesn’t the SEND governor role cover?

The role of school governor for SEND isn’t about running, evaluating or strategising the SEND provision of your school setting. Your role as SEND governor doesn’t span to managing the SENCo, reviewing individual children’s plans or getting involved in the day-to-day work of the school either.

Your job is strategic oversight. Asking the right questions, scrutinising the right data, and making sure the whole board has what it needs to hold leaders to account.

One thing worth saying clearly: the SEND link governor leads on this work, but the entire governing board is collectively accountable for SEND. The link governor role doesn’t absorb the board’s responsibility.

 

SEND governor responsibilities

The DfE’s January 2025 guidance for governing boards sets this out well. As lead governor for SEND, you’re expected to champion pupils with SEND at board level, ensure the board has the information it needs for assurance, and work closely with the headteacher, senior leaders and the SENCo.

Your key day-to-day responsibilities

• Meet your SENCo regularly(at least termly) to understand how provision is working, what the data shows and what challenges leaders are facing. Remember, it’s not an inspection visit, it’s a working relationship.
• Review the school’s statutory documents. Schools must have a SEN information report, a SEN and disability policy, and an accessibility plan (as a minimum).

Governors need to make sure the policies linking to SEND and inclusion are up to date and reviewed with parents and pupils.

A new requirement on the horizon is for all schools to have an inclusion policy and strategy, this is something to be aware of.

• Know your school’s SEND profile. As of January 2025, 14.2% of pupils nationally are on SEN Support and 5.3% have an EHC plan. Do you know where your school sits against those figures
• Scrutinise SENCo workload and support. The board must ensure the SENCo holds the National Award for SEN Coordination within three years of appointment and has sufficient time and administrative support.

 

Questions you should be able to answer at a board meeting

• How do SEND pupils’ attendance, exclusions and progress data compare to their peers?
• How is the Graduated Approach being used consistently across all classrooms?
• How are we engaging parents and carers of pupils with SEND?
• How is our SEN funding being spent, and what impact is it having?

The legal duties you need to know about

There are currently three pieces of legislation that underpin everything the governing board does on SEND.

 

Children and Families Act 2014

This places duties on the governing body as the school’s legally accountable body. It requires governors to:

• Use best endeavours to meet the needs of pupils with SEND
• Co-operate with the local authority on the Local Offer
• Ensure pupils with SEND can participate in school activities alongside their peers

 

Equality Act 2010

Separate from but closely connected to the Children and Families Act, this requires schools to:

• Not discriminate against disabled pupils
• Make reasonable adjustments proactively, not just reactively
• Maintain an up-to-date accessibility plan

Some pupils will be covered by both pieces of legislation. Others will be disabled under the Equality Act but not have an identified SEN. Governors need to understand both duties and how they sit alongside each other.

 

SEND Code of Practice

This is statutory guidance that tells you how the law should be applied in practice, including the requirement for a SEND link governor and the Graduated Approach your SENCo uses to identify and respond to pupil need.

This is due to be updated alongside the introduction of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. It’s worth noting that legislation to pass through parliament can take a while, this isn’t likely to be an overnight publication (but we’ll share the summary of the bill when it’s live).

If you don’t follow IQM on social platforms yet, that’s the best place to be notified of our latest summaries and advice on all things school inclusion.

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What Ofsted will want to know about school SEND (and inclusion)

This matters for SEND governors now more than ever. Since November 2025, Ofsted’s new inspection framework includes inclusion as a standalone evaluation area with its own grade on the report card.

 

What inspectors are looking at (a basic summary)

• How well leaders identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND
• Whether attendance and exclusion rates are disproportionate for pupils with SEND
• Whether the school’s culture genuinely supports all pupils to belong, achieve and thrive
• The impact of leaders’ decisions and what this means for the most vulnerable pupils

 

What Ofsted might ask your SEND governor

Inspectors can and do speak with governors. The questions you should expect are essentially the same questions you should already be asking yourself:

• How does your school include pupils with SEND?
• What data have you seen?
• What questions have you asked leaders?
• What changed as a result?

If those feel hard to answer, that’s worth paying attention to before your next governor’s meeting.

What’s coming with SEND Reform?

You don’t need to act on any of this yet, but it’s useful context. The government’s School White Paper proposes replacing the current SEND support system with a four-tier model.

The current SEND support system runs via a two-tier model:

 

SEN Support and Education Health Care Plans.

The latest proposals from the SEND reform consultation expand the tiers to four:

Universal: the baseline all mainstream schools must provide

Targeted: structured support recorded in a new digital Individual Support Plan (ISP)

Targeted Plus: specialist professional input, also recorded in an ISP

Specialist: for children with the most complex needs, backed by an EHCP

EHCPs are being retained but would eventually be reserved for those with the most complex needs. None of this comes into force before September 2029, and no changes to existing EHCPs begin before September 2030.

 

The question for school governors right now

The current law and Code of Practice still apply in full.

But the direction of travel is clear: mainstream schools are expected to build the capacity to meet more needs without relying on statutory plans. It’s worth asking whether your school is already heading that way.

 

Four things to do next

Keep it simple if you’re not sure where to start:

• Download the DfE’s January 2025 governing boards guidance. It’s free and includes a checklist of questions to ask your school’s leaders.
• Book a meeting with your SENCoif you haven’t had one recently. Come with questions, not a clipboard.
• Ask for your school’s SEND dataso you can see the picture clearly before your next board meeting.
• Explore your school’s whole-school inclusion plans so you can see how improvements and change will be long-term and sustainable.

The role of school governor doesn’t require you to be a SEND expert. It requires you to ask good questions, stay informed and make sure your board is doing its job on behalf of every child in the school.

How IQM works with schools and governors

The Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) is the only national award for inclusion in the UK, and it’s been supporting schools to embed inclusive practice for over 20 years.

We work with schools across the UK, Ireland, and international schools, giving our expert team a broad picture of what inclusive practice looks like at every level.

 

What the award process involves

IQM isn’t a one-off tick-box exercise. Schools go through a structured assessment process that looks at inclusion across the whole school, not only SEND provision.

Our Evaluative Framework includes teaching and learning, leadership, culture, pupil and parent engagement, and how inclusion is evidenced and sustained over time.

 

There are three levels of recognition:

Inclusive School Award: the foundation level, recognising schools with a clear and evidenced commitment to inclusion

Centre of Excellence Award: for schools where inclusive practice is embedded, sustained and being shared with others

Flagship School Award: for schools that are actively shaping inclusion thinking beyond their own setting.

 

What this means for school governors

For a governing board, IQM gives you something concrete to point to. It provides independent, external validation of your school’s inclusive practice, which is the kind of useful evidence that supports your strategic oversight role.

IQM also works with Multi-Academy Trusts, helping trust boards build consistency of inclusive practice across all their schools. For MAT trustees in particular, that whole-trust visibility is invaluable when you’re trying to hold multiple settings to account.

 

IQM Cluster groups and professional development

Schools at Centre of Excellence and Flagship level have access to IQM cluster groups, where leaders, SENCos and school staff can come together to share what’s working, tackle challenges and keep developing their practice.

It’s the kind of ongoing professional conversation that makes inclusion a living part of school culture rather than something you do once and file away.

If your school is thinking about where to start, or wants to understand what the process looks like, you can find out more by contacting our team or requesting your free school information pack.

 

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