SEND: role of the link governor

Clarify your role as the link governor for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Download our role description and get advice on meeting with the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO), as well as a link for training.

Last reviewed on 28 March 2024
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Contents
  1. Your board should have a SEND link governor or committee
  2. Use our role description 
  3. Understand SEND in your school
  4. Hold your school to account 
  5. Report to the governing board 
  6. Help your board drive high-quality SEND provision
  7. Next steps: take SEND link governor training

The advice in this article was given by governance experts Jackie Beard, Deborah Bruce, Kate Foale and Lorraine Petersen.

Your board should have a SEND link governor or committee

All schools should have either a member of the governing board, or a committee, with specific oversight of your school's arrangements for special educational needs and disability (SEND). 

This is set out in the statutory SEND Code of Practice (paragraph 6.3, page 92), although the code doesn't specify exactly what the role involves. 

Everyone on your governing board is responsible for SEND – but the SEND link governor or committee is there to have a deeper understanding and monitor in detail.

Use our role description 

Understand the usual expectations of a SEND link governor with the role description below:

Download: SEND link governor role description DOCX, 525.8 KB

The role of the SEND link governor in special schools and mainstream schools is largely the