Governors' compliance with SEND legislation: an overview

Learn about governors' duty to provide education for children with SEND. We run through the rules set out in the Governance Handbook, Children and Families Act 2014, SEND Code of Practice and SEND Regulations 2014.

Last reviewed on 3 July 2023
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 3478
Contents
  1. Governors' responsibilities
  2. Appoint a link governor for SEND
  3. Report on SEND provision
  4. Make sure there's an accessibility plan
  5. Make sure a SENCO is appointed 
  6. Make sure extra attention is paid to safeguarding 

Governors' responsibilities

All governing boards have legal duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

In practice, your governing board can delegate these functions to a committee, an individual governor or the headteacher. However, it's still your board's responsibility to make sure that the functions are carried out. 

Co-operate with the local authority (LA) when the LA develops and reviews its local offer (this sets out the support available in the local area for children and young people with SEND)  Try their best to make sure that a child with SEND gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEND Make sure that children and young people with SEND engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who don't have SEND Make sure parents/carers are informed when the school is making