Beyond the SENCO: Training Every Teacher to Make Assistive Technology Work

In classrooms across England, one in five of the students relies on assistive technology to learn. For students with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), these devices aren’t optional, they are their route to the curriculum. Yet we know that 55% of teachers believe their outdated technology is impacting student learning, creating technology avoidance among the users who need these devices the most.

At the same time, while teachers are struggling with broken tech, they report that the SEND system is under huge strain. In Bett’s SEND in Crisis whitepaper, just 10% of teachers say the current SEND system works well, and over 70% say it isn’t working at all.

It’s no surprise that schools are turning to assistive technology solutions to support SEND learners. Yet, when it comes to assistive technology in mainstream schools, the Bett report shows that adoption is low.

• Just 17% of teachers use text-to-speech and speech-to-text software effectively
• 16% are using visual scheduling and communication tools
• 10% use assistive writing and spelling tools

These statistics suggest that assistive technology remains underused by mainstream teachers. And while SENCOs are critical to SEND support, they can’t be the only people in a school who understand how it works. If inclusion is going to work, every teacher needs practical confidence with accessibility tools. And they need devices they can actually trust.

Training is coming. But is it enough?

In September 2024, The Department for Education released their Assistive Technology Training for School evaluation report. This report identified that when staff get dedicated training on built-in tools like Immersive Reader and dictation, their own confidence with these tools improves and they report better behaviour, independence and attainment for SEND students. And in January 2025, Tes reported that ministers have signalled that all new teachers will receive mandatory training in assistive technology from 2025 onwards.

This signals that training matters. Yet, the ASUS report exposes a gap in this thinking: no amount of training can rescue a system built on fragile infrastructure.

When a school buys laptops that crack under everyday use, or freeze whenever a student opens multiple tabs, it doesn’t matter how beautifully the CPD explains text-to-speech. The students' experience of assistive technology will still be one of anxiety and unreliability, and they will behave accordingly.

What “assistive-ready” devices actually look like

Every student has different needs and ASUS has designed its education range with this in mind. The modular design makes repairs quick and cost effective, while extended battery life means fewer interruptions to learning.

• Durability and modularity answer the reality that broken hinges, cracked screens and worn-out ports are not occasional mishaps but weekly events in busy schools. Devices with replaceable parts and military-grade testing mean fewer students are sidelined while a laptop waits for repair.

• Mobility, flexible form factors, and all-day battery life ensure learners can stay productive wherever they are, whether they need a touchscreen, a garaged stylus for diverse learning needs or reliable WiFi 6E/4G LTE connectivity to keep lessons moving without disruption.

• Centralised management tools acknowledge that IT teams are as stretched as SENCOs; if resetting a device takes hours, the student support effectively vanishes for that period.

What matters most is that these aren’t “extra” features for a niche group. They are preconditions for making all those built-in assistive technology tools (dictation, screen readers, focus modes) something students can trust.

Beyond the SENCO

So the question for school leaders and policymakers isn’t, “How do we get more teachers to use assistive technology?

Teachers are already using it. They are improvising with Immersive Reader and speech-to-text, with reading pens and Chrome extensions. They are signing up in large numbers to assistive technology courses, and reporting that these programmes helped them make better use of tools they already had.

The sharper question is:

What would it take for every pupil who relies on assistive technology to be confident that, most of the time, it will simply work?

Part of the answer is certainly training, and it’s encouraging that this technology is finally appearing in initial teacher education and national CPD programmes. But another part is brutally practical: the devices need to work for every student.

It means recognising that the laptop in front of a pupil with dyslexia or ADHD is not just a portal to a worksheet; it is, quite literally, their reasonable adjustment. When it works, they participate. When it doesn’t, they may not.

As SEND numbers rise, the question for schools is no longer whether to use technology to support inclusion – it's whether the technology is reliable enough to keep the promise.

For more information about our student devices visit our Education Solutions page