HOW TO HIRE · CHILDCARE & FAMILY

How to hire an SEN support worker in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No register applies to SEN support workers in any UK nation. Here are the vetting and agency checks, and what to ask.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring an SEN support worker in five steps

  1. Ask for the vetting checkDBS, PVG or AccessNI, dated.
  2. Check training in your child's needsAutism, epilepsy, moving and handling.
  3. Share the support planRoutines, triggers, communication.
  4. Check the agency, if anyRegistered for personal care with the regulator for your nation.
  5. Agree hours and boundariesIn writing.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to SEN support workers as individuals in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Ask about training and phone two references.

Criminal record check — DBS, PVG or AccessNI

England and Wales: childcare can get the enhanced DBS check with barred lists, and Ofsted requires it of a registered SEN support worker. Scotland: PVG scheme membership. Northern Ireland: an enhanced AccessNI check with the children's barred list, through an Umbrella Body for the self-employed. A parent cannot apply on a carer's behalf.

Ask to see the SEN support worker's certificate — or proof of PVG membership in Scotland — and read the issue date; a DBS certificate has no official expiry. gov.uk →

Agency registration for personal care

If an agency supplies the worker and they help with washing, dressing or the toilet, the agency is giving personal care, which CQC registers in England; CIW, the Care Inspectorate and RQIA register home care in the other nations.

Ask the agency which regulator registers it and check its entry. cqc.org.uk →

You as the employer

gov.uk says you are usually the employer of an SEN support worker who works in your home when you take them on yourself, rather than through an agency or as a self-employed worker. That means a contract, payslips, at least the National Minimum Wage, employers' liability insurance, registering as an employer and running payroll — and you cannot ask them to become self-employed.

Agree the employment status in writing before the start date, and set up payroll or pay someone to run it. gov.uk →

VAT

Support for a child with special educational needs is exempt from VAT only when it is supplied by a state-regulated provider (Ofsted, CIW, the Care Inspectorate or the Health and Social Care Trust), a charity or a public body; otherwise the standard rate applies. An SEN support worker booked by the hour as a self-employed individual is not state-regulated, so the exemption does not cover them — but under £90,000 they are not VAT-registered and charge no VAT.

Ask the SEN support worker whether they are self-employed, employed by you or sent by an agency, and whether VAT is added. gov.uk →

“Which criminal record check do you hold as an SEN support worker?”

A good answer: Enhanced DBS, PVG or AccessNI, dated.

“What training do you have in my child's needs?”

A good answer: Named training: autism, epilepsy, moving and handling.

“Can you follow our communication methods?”

A good answer: Signs, symbols, devices.

“How do you handle distress?”

A good answer: Approaches from the plan; no restraint.

“Are you employed by an agency, or self-employed?”

A good answer: Clear — it decides your duties.

“Will you give personal care?”

A good answer: Only if agreed and trained.

“How will you record sessions?”

A good answer: Notes shared with you.

Booking by the hour

  • The rate per hour, and the rate for evenings, weekends and school holidays
  • The minimum booking per session and what happens if your child is unwell and the session ends early
  • Activity, travel and meal costs on outings, and who pays them
  • The support plan agreed before the first hour — routines, communication, triggers, personal care if any
  • Any agency fee, ID checked and the rating

Walk away if

  • No vetting check
  • No training in your child's needs
  • Restraint not in the plan
  • Agency giving personal care without registration
  • No notes
  • Insists on self-employed while you control the work

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

SEN support workers near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you, or book by the hour.

  1. IntroductionNeeds, plan, communication.
  2. Trial sessionWith you present.
  3. Regular sessionsHome, community, clubs.
  4. NotesAfter each session.
  5. ReviewEvery few months.

SEN
Special educational needs.
Support plan
The written plan.
Barred list
The list of people barred from regulated work with children.
Personal care
Washing, dressing, toileting — regulated for agencies.
Makaton
A sign and symbol language.
Direct payments
Money to arrange your own support.

AFTER

When the job is done

Keep notes and plansShare with school or therapists.
Review goalsRegularly.
Keep recordsTimesheets and payments.
Write the reviewHonest detail about this SEN support worker helps the next person choose. If it went badly, start with the make-it-right step so they can answer.

STEP 1Raise it with the SEN support worker as their employerTalk first, then write down what needs to change and by when. gov.uk expects an employer to discuss a conduct or performance problem informally before anything formal, and to have written disciplinary rules that follow the Acas Code of Practice (the Labour Relations Agency code in Northern Ireland); an SEN support worker can raise a grievance with you, and may bring a companion to a formal meeting.
STEP 2Use Locufy's make-it-right stepIf you booked the SEN support worker through Locufy and rate them under four stars, you are asked whether to send it to them first; we follow it through. Then you review.
STEP 3If the SEN support worker's job endsFollow the notice in the contract: after a month in the job an employee must give at least a week's notice, and dismissing without proper notice is wrongful dismissal, so act fairly and keep records. Final pay includes wages owed and any untaken statutory holiday, even after gross misconduct; give the SEN support worker a P45 and report the leaving date to HMRC through payroll. The Acas helpline (0300 123 1100) advises employers in England, Scotland and Wales.
STEP 4Booked through an agency, or self-employed?Then you are a customer, not an employer: the agency or the self-employed SEN support worker is a trader who must use reasonable care and skill under section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. A money claim against them can go to small claims — up to £10,000 in England and Wales, £5,000 under simple procedure in Scotland, £5,000 in Northern Ireland.

Hiring an SEN support worker: questions people ask

Not as an individual in any UK nation; an agency giving personal care must be registered.

Enhanced DBS with the children's barred list in England and Wales, PVG in Scotland, enhanced AccessNI in Northern Ireland.

If you hire and control a worker directly, gov.uk says you usually are.

No UK publisher prices sen support worker as a separate service, so there is no guide figure. Ask two or three SEN support workers for their rate per hour and minimum session, for the same support plan, and enter your town above to see who is near you.

Ask the council or Trust after an assessment.

Raise it in writing; a worker or agency in business owes reasonable care and skill under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in childcare & family

How to hire: Homework HelpHow to hire: NannyHow to hire: ChildminderHow to hire: After-School CareHow to hire: Holiday ChildcareHow to hire: Part-Time NannyHow to hire: BabysitterHow to hire: Mother's HelpAll 701 hiring guides →

SEN support workers near you

SEN support workers in LondonSEN support workers in ManchesterSEN support workers in BirminghamSEN support workers in GlasgowSEN support workers in BelfastAll sen support workers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. gov.uk — DBS checks: levels and who can request one
  2. gov.uk (DBS) — regulated activity with children
  3. mygov.scot — the PVG scheme
  4. nidirect — AccessNI checks for the self-employed and personal employees
  5. CQC — personal care (regulated activity)
  6. gov.uk — employing someone to work in your home
  7. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 54 — consumer's rights for services
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  9. gov.uk — solve a workplace dispute
  10. gov.uk — taking disciplinary action against an employee
  11. gov.uk — dismissing staff (fair, unfair and wrongful dismissal)
  12. gov.uk — dismissing staff: how to dismiss someone
  13. gov.uk — handing in your notice: giving notice
  14. gov.uk — holiday entitlement: taking holiday before leaving a job
  15. gov.uk — what to do when an employee leaves
  16. Welfare services and goods (VAT Notice 701/2) — 2.2.1 Care and protection of children that are exempt; 3.3 State regulated providers
  17. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  18. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register