Employing unqualified teachers: requirements

Your requirements

Maintained schools and academies must hire qualified teachers for the roles of:

• Special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) - see our article on the qualification requirements for SENCOs 
• Designated teacher for looked after children (LAC) - see page 6 of the DfE guidance on LAC

Academies: Apart from the requirements above, your academy trust is free to set out its own rules for employing unqualified teachers - check your funding agreement to find out the arrangements in your school. Please note, if you're a special academy, your funding agreement might require you to follow the same rules as maintained schools.

Maintained schools: In addition to the above, we set out your requirements below. 

Unqualified teachers can carry out 'specified work'

Activities that count as 'specified work' include:

This is outlined in section 5 of