GovWire

Guidance: Senior leadership national professional qualification

Department For Education

February 12
18:02 2024

Who this course is for

This course is for teachers and leaders who are, or want to be senior leaders with cross-school responsibilities.

Overview

This 18-month course will help staff gain confidence and develop skills in:

  • leadership knowledge and the specialist expertise needed to tackle school improvement priorities
  • supporting the development of a positive, predictable and safe environment for pupils
  • contributing to your schools strategic direction and establishing an environment for pupil success
  • helping ensure staff feel supported and valued

Teachers will get to train alongside peers with similar responsibilities. The course content focuses on the key challenges teachers face in their role.

Teachers and education experts designed this course to fit around busy teaching timetables. Theres no project work and minimal time out of school required.

This course will:

  • take 18 months to complete
  • involve an average of 1 to 2 hours of study each week
  • be a mix of self-study and group sessions
  • involve a written assessment
  • start February 2024

Funding

Funding to cover the course fees is available for most teachers and school leaders in state-funded settings in England.

Learn about funding.

Course content

This course covers themes including:

  • school culture
  • effective teaching
  • supporting curriculum and assessment development
  • behaviour
  • additional and special educational needs
  • professional development
  • organisational management

Youll also learn about:

  • implementation strategies
  • working in partnership with parents and carers
  • governance and accountability

Benefits for you and your school

Undisruptive to existing workload

This programme is designed to be flexible to fit with your busy working role. Training is delivered in bite-sized chunks, and you can learn at a time and pace that suits you.

Access the latest research

Benefit from the latest evidence-based learning and approaches to great teaching and leadership.

Enact positive change

Youll be encouraged to apply and translate what youve learned to your own school context. Your training provider will give you models and examples that will help you translate theory into practical skills you can use in your setting.

Individualised training

Youll be able to focus on specific areas of leadership where you want to improve your knowledge. This will help you make evidence-informed decisions and action positive change.

Learning backed by evidence

Youll be introduced to evidence-informed practices. This will enable you to develop strategies to improve teaching and pupil performance at your school.

Course structure

The course covers 10 topics, outlined in thecourse framework. Providers use this framework to design their course.

The course includes:

  • independent study
  • group coaching
  • face-to-face sessions with other participants

Youll need to spend 1 to 2 hours a week working on this NPQ.

Providers

You can train with one of the following providers:

They work with delivery partners, such as teaching school hubs, to provide training.

Assessment

To get your NPQ accreditation, youll need to complete the course and pass a written assessment (between 1,500 and 2,500 words).

Apply

Before you apply to your chosen training provider, you need to register with the Department for Education.

Learn how to apply for an NPQ.

Published 20 September 2023
Last updated 12 February 2024 +show all updates
  1. Updated NPQ start date to February 2024.

  2. First published.

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