This article covers a number of different roles. Some of these roles, such as Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) and careers coordinators, are based in schools. Others, including education welfare officers, independent careers advisers and educational psychologists, are based outside schools. School counsellors may be based either in or outside schools, depending on whether they are employed directly by the school, or contracted by the local authority (LA) or a voluntary sector organisation.

In addition to the specialist roles described in this article, there is an expectation, set out in the Teachers’ Standards, that all teachers bear responsibility for the progress and behaviour of the pupils they teach, and for their guidance and support. The expectations include that teachers:

• ‘adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils’ (page 11);
• ‘manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment’ (page 12);
• have ‘regard for the need to safeguard pupils’ well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions’ (page 14).

Pastoral care roles

‘Pastoral care’ means looking after the welfare of pupils and ensuring that they can come to school.

In primary schools, it is usually the class teacher who has particular ‘pastoral responsibility’ for the children in his / her class.

In secondary schools, where students have different subject teachers, it is normally the ‘form tutor’ who has particular pastoral responsibility for a group of pupils. The form tutor generally meets with his / her form twice a day for a few minutes before the morning and afternoon sessions to register pupils as present or absent, give out notices, and prepare them for the teaching session ahead. (A ‘form’ is a group of pupils, usually of the same age.) This ‘tutor time’ allows form tutors to get to know the students in their care, monitor their progress and well-being, and deal with problems that arise.

In secondary schools, a teacher is also typically appointed to oversee pastoral matters for each year group. This role is commonly known as 'head of year'.

The way in which individual schools organise pastoral roles and responsibilities varies. In some schools, there may be a pastoral manager role, which is full-time and non-teaching. In others, a pastoral manager role may be aligned with teaching duties.  

The framework for pay in maintained schools allows for pastoral care, such as acting as form tutor, to be included in a teacher’s normal duties. If the pastoral care role is a sustained additional responsibility, such as head of year, then the framework allows for a Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) payment to be awarded. TLR payments are made in addition to salary. See the subheading ‘Salaries’ in the article ‘Conditions of Service for Teachers Working in Early Childhood and School Education’.

Special educational needs coordinator (SENCO)

Under Section 67 of the Children and Families Act 2014, all publicly funded schools, including maintained schools, nursery schools and academies, must designate a qualified teacher to act as the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). Voluntary and private early years providers receiving government funding are also expected to have arrangements in place for meeting children’s special educational needs (SEN). This may involve identifying a SENCO.

The role of the SENCO in early childhood education and care involves:

• ensuring that all practitioners in the setting understand their responsibilities towards children with SEN, and the setting’s approach to identifying and meeting SEN
• advising and supporting colleagues
• ensuring parents are closely involved throughout and that their insights inform action taken by the setting, and
• liaising with professionals or agencies beyond the setting.

For statutory guidance on the role of the SENCO in early years provision, see pages 88-9 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years.

In schools, the SENCO role is normally taken alongside other teaching or management responsibilities and, in small schools, the role might be taken by the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, a newly appointed SENCO is required to achieve a postgraduate National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination within three years of appointment.

The role of the SENCO in schools includes:

• day-to-day responsibility for the operation of SEN policy
• providing professional guidance to colleagues
• working closely with staff, parents and other agencies
• tracking the progress of SEN pupils and ensuring that they are appropriately supported in class.

Statutory guidance on the role of the SENCO in schools is provided in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (pages 108-109).

It may sometimes be appropriate for a number of smaller primary schools to share a SENCO employed to work across individual schools. In such cases, the SENCO should not have significant class teaching responsibilities or be the headteacher at one of the schools. In larger schools there may be a team of SENCOs.

Designated safeguarding lead

All publicly funded schools, including maintained schools, nursery schools and academies should, in line with statutory guidance, appoint a designated safeguarding lead to take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection. This person should be a senior member of staff from the school leadership team. Their role should include providing advice and support to other staff on child welfare and child protection matters; taking part in strategy discussions and meetings – and/or supporting other staff to do so; and contributing to the assessment of children. Formal training for the role should be provided and this should be updated at least every two years. For more detailed information regarding the designated safeguarding role, see pages 89-92 of the statutory guidance.

Designated teacher for looked-after children

All publicly funded schools are required to designate a member of staff to have responsibility for the educational attainment of looked-after children and previously looked-after children. They must also ensure that he / she undertakes appropriate training for the role.

Under the Designated Teacher (Looked After Children etc) (England) Regulations 2009, the designated teacher must be a qualified teacher working at the school or the headteacher of the school. He / she should be a central point of initial contact within the school and take a lead role in promoting the attainment of all looked-after and previously looked-after children, working with the virtual school head. For further information, see the statutory guidance on the role and responsibilities of the designated teacher for looked-after children. The key elements of the role are set out on pages 11-14.

Virtual school head

Under Section 99 of the Children and Families Act 2014, all local authorities (LAs) must appoint at least one person to discharge the LA’s duty to promote the educational attainment of looked-after children. That person is known as the virtual school head (VSH) and must be an officer employed by a LA. The virtual school head has a key role to ensure that looked-after and previously looked-after children have the maximum opportunity to reach their full educational potential.

Local authorities receive ‘Pupil Premium plus’ funding, based on the number of looked-after children within the LA. This is additional funding provided to help improve the attainment of looked-after children and close the attainment gap between them and their peers. Virtual school heads work with the designated teacher for looked-after children in publicly funded schools to discuss how this funding can best be used to support the progress of looked-after children. For further information on the role of the VSH for looked-after children, see pages 8-9 of the statutory guidance for LAs on promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children.

Welfare and attendance staff

There are a number of roles focusing on different aspects of pupil welfare and attendance.

Learning mentors, school attendance officers and home-school liaison officers are normally employed as school support staff; see the article on 'Other Education Staff or Staff Working with Schools'.

Education welfare officers (EWOs) work with pupils, parents and schools to promote regular attendance at school. They are usually employed by local authorities (LAs).

Entry requirements for this role vary. Some employers may ask for a degree in social work or social sciences. Other EWOs have qualifications and experience in a related area such as teaching, youth work or counselling. For most posts, at least one year's experience of working with children and families, or in a related field, is required.

Further information about the role is available on the National Careers Service website.

Careers guidance staff

All schools are expected to have a named Careers Leader who is responsible for the delivery of the school’s programme of careers advice and guidance. To provide this guidance and make sure young people understand the full range of options available to them, schools work with different external partners. These include qualified career professionals, employers and training providers. A school’s programme of careers guidance may be provided solely through external services, or jointly between the school and external advisers / services. Where schools provide careers guidance in-house, this must be combined with external provision.

Legal framework

Sections 28 and 29 of the Education Act 2011 removed the duty from schools to provide careers education, replacing it with a duty to secure access to independent and impartial careers advice for all pupils in Years 9-11 (ages 13-16). In September 2013, under the Careers Guidance in Schools Regulations 2013, the duty was extended to include pupils in Year 8 (ages 12–13) and in Years 12 and 13 (ages 16–18).

To be independent, the advice must come from a source other than an employee of the school. The governing bodies of maintained schools must ensure that careers guidance:

• includes information on the range of education or training options available, including apprenticeships and technical education routes;
• is guidance that the person giving it considers will promote the best interests of the pupils to whom it is given.

Schools are also expected to secure access to independent face-to-face careers guidance, where this is the most suitable support to enable young people to make successful transitions. This applies particularly to children from disadvantaged backgrounds or to those who have special educational needs (SEN), learning difficulties or disabilities.

Although the legislation applies specifically to maintained schools, the same arrangements apply to academies through their funding agreements.

For more detailed information on requirements regarding careers guidance for maintained secondary schools and secondary academies, see the statutory guidance Careers guidance and access for education and training providers.

External providers

Independent careers advisers who are external to the school / college are typically employed by a specialist provider of careers services.

The National Careers Service, established in April 2012 as an all-age service, provides support to schools and colleges. The National Careers Service also acts as a facilitator, brokering relationships with and between schools, colleges, employers and local communities, to help young people benefit from first-hand experience of the world of work and gain knowledge about opportunities available in the local and national labour market. All providers for the Service are accredited to the matrix quality standard and schools can access an online register of organisations accredited to the standard. In its Careers Strategy (December 2017), the Government set out a commitment to ensure that the National Careers Service becomes the single external provider of careers information, advice and guidance.

The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) offers a national network of Enterprise Coordinators who are trained to work with schools to build careers and employer engagement plans. Schools can also be supported by an Enterprise Adviser to help them to develop relationships with local businesses. Established in 2014, the CEC is the strategic coordinating organisation for high quality careers and enterprise support to young people in education. The Government set out in its Careers Strategy, its intention for the CEC to expand its role and coordinate support for schools across the benchmarks for careers provision (see pages 7-8 of the statutory guidance).

Jobcentre Plus (JCP) advisers work directly with young people in schools, advising them on work experience opportunities, routes into traineeships and apprenticeships and the local labour market.

Qualifications for careers advisers

The Qualification in Career Development, awarded by the Career Development Institute, is the main qualification route for those who wish to work as careers advisers with young people, although there are marked variations in the level and type of qualification held by careers advisers. The Qualification in Career Development is available at universities across the UK as a one-year full time or two-year part time postgraduate course. As well as academic study, it includes a work placement with an employer lasting a minimum of 20 days and a further 10 days of work-based learning, including activities such as attending careers fairs or visiting employers.

Internal provision

Following the Government’s Careers Strategy (December 2017), all secondary schools and colleges are now expected to appoint a careers leader to lead and coordinate the school’s careers. He/she may be a teaching or non-teaching member of staff who has the backing of the school’s senior leadership team. The careers leader is responsible for planning, implementing and quality assuring a careers programme for the school; managing the delivery of career guidance; networking with external partners, including employers; coordinating the contributions of careers teachers, subject teachers, tutors and SENCO. The role is distinct from a careers adviser who provides advice to pupils.

School counsellors

School-based counsellors offer troubled children and young people an opportunity to talk about their difficulties within a relationship of agreed confidentiality. School counsellors aim to help children and young people to:

• achieve a greater understanding of themselves and of their relationship to the world;
• achieve a greater awareness of their personal resources;
• build their resilience and support their ability to tackle problems and pursue personally meaningful goals.

Children or young people may be referred to a counsellor by a teacher at the school or their parent or guardian.

School counsellors may be contracted directly by the school, employed by the local authority (LA), or contracted from a third party, for example from the voluntary sector.

Non-statutory government guidance, Counselling in Schools: a Blueprint for the Future (2016) recommends that counsellors employed in schools should:

• as a minimum requirement, hold a diploma in counselling (which typically involves one year of full-time or two years of part-time study);
• be accredited by a professional body, such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)*, the National Counselling Society or the UK Council for Psychotherapy;
• have relevant experience in working with children and young people.

*The BACP, for example, requires counsellors who wish to register with them to have completed, at minimum, a one year full-time or two year part-time counselling / psychotherapy course that includes classroom-based tuition and a supervised placement of a minimum of 100 client contact hours

Educational psychologists

Educational psychologists (EPs) work with children and young people experiencing difficulties, and their schools and families, to promote their learning and behaviour and emotional and social well-being. They also support those with learning difficulties in achieving their potential, by contributing to the assessment of a child’s special educational needs (SEN) and to reviews of provision. Educational psychologists usually work in consultation with parents, teachers, social workers, doctors, education officers and other people involved in the education and care of children and young people.

The educational psychology professional entry training is a three-year doctoral degree. The courses generally consist of a first year spent studying full-time, followed by two years in which the trainee works in a local authority as a trainee educational psychologist, with one to two days’ study each week. The entry requirement is normally an upper second class (2:1) bachelor’s degree in a psychology-based subject that grants eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society. Applicants must also have at least one year's relevant experience of working with children and young people.

In order to practise, educational psychologists are required by law to be registered by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the statutory regulator for all practitioner psychologists in the UK. Further information regarding registration is available from the HCPC.

Educational psychologists are usually employed by local authorities (LAs). Like other educational advisory staff, they are normally employed under the Soulbury Committee Agreement, and the linked Soulbury Pay Scales and conditions of service for staff employed under the Agreement. 

Further information on the role is available from the Association of Educational Psychologists.

Article last reviewed April 2021.