Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Special educational needs coordinator to university department head

A special educational needs coordinator already meets 59% of what the university department head role asks for. The move turns on 9 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From special educational needs coordinator
59 % overlap
Partial match
To university department head
24 You already bring
9 Still to learn
41 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Real move, short list to learn

46.7/ 100

1 How much of what a university department head is expected to do is already part of a special educational needs coordinator’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the university department head role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A university department head role treats 13 of its required skills as things a special educational needs coordinator already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • advise on lesson plans
  • advise on teaching methods
  • assessment processes
  • assist in the organisation of school events
  • cooperate with education professionals
  • curriculum objectives

What stands in the way is 9 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 24 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A university department head role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a special educational needs coordinator background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held provide education management support management skills
  • already held provide feedback to teachers communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held promote education programmes communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held education administration business, administration and law
  • already held advise on teaching methods communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held curriculum standards education

All 24 carried skills, including the 13 the university department head role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 17 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 management skills 5 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn manage university department required
  • still to learn identify process improvements required
  • still to learn assess employees' capability levels required
  • still to learn assess students required
  • still to learn use office systems required
  • optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
  • optional, not held recruit employees optional
02 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn write work-related reports required
  • optional, not held develop professional network optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
  • optional, not held represent the organisation optional
03 business, administration and law 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn university procedures required
  • optional, not held human resource management optional
04 information skills 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn lead inspections required
  • optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
05 assisting and caring 1 required
  • still to learn provide information on study programmes required
06 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a university department head role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 24 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held advise on lesson plans skill
  • already held advise on teaching methods skill
  • already held assessment processes knowledge
  • already held assist in the organisation of school events skill
  • already held cooperate with education professionals skill
  • already held curriculum objectives knowledge
  • already held curriculum standards knowledge
  • already held guarantee students' safety skill
  • already held learning difficulties knowledge
  • already held present reports skill
  • already held project management knowledge
  • already held provide education management support skill
  • already held provide feedback to teachers skill
  • already held create a financial report skill
  • already held develop organisational policies skill
  • already held education administration knowledge
  • already held escort students on a field trip skill
  • already held evaluate education programmes skill
  • already held funding methods knowledge
  • already held identify education needs skill
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held monitor educational developments skill
  • already held promote education programmes skill
  • already held work with virtual learning environments skill
8 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
  • optional, not held develop professional network optional
  • optional, not held human resource management optional
  • optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
  • optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
  • optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
  • optional, not held recruit employees optional
  • optional, not held represent the organisation optional
19 held skills the university department head role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role apply for government funding skill
  • not needed by the target role behavioural disorders knowledge
  • not needed by the target role communication disorders knowledge
  • not needed by the target role coordinate educational programmes skill
  • not needed by the target role development delays knowledge
  • not needed by the target role disability care knowledge
  • not needed by the target role disability types knowledge
  • not needed by the target role education law knowledge
  • not needed by the target role follow research on special needs education skill
  • not needed by the target role government policy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role instructional strategies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role learning needs analysis knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage government-funded programmes skill
  • not needed by the target role manage resources for educational purposes skill
  • not needed by the target role manage student admissions skill
  • not needed by the target role organise projects to fill education needs skill
  • not needed by the target role provide specialised instruction for special needs students skill
  • not needed by the target role screen reader knowledge
  • not needed by the target role special needs education knowledge
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn university procedures required
  • optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
  • optional, not held human resource management optional
Index
FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a special educational needs coordinator become a university department head?

Yes, and it is a moderate move. A special educational needs coordinator already covers 59% of what a university department head is expected to do: 24 skills carry over, 13 of which the university department head role treats as required.

What skills does a special educational needs coordinator need to become a university department head?

9 required skills are missing, plus 8 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is manage university department.

How hard is the move from special educational needs coordinator to university department head?

Its learning distance is 46.7 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.