Develop the skills, knowledge and behaviours that a high-performing executive leader needs.

Apply

The National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership (NPQEL) supports the professional development of aspiring and serving executive headteachers and multi-academy trust (MAT) chief executive officers (CEOs).

Apply with one of the providers accredited to offer this qualification. Contact your preferred provider, or visit their website, to find out more about the qualification.

Providers

The Department for Education accredited providers to design, deliver and assess one or more of the national professional qualifications (NPQs). You can only take an NPQ with an accredited provider.

To ensure that your NPQ is accessible, high quality and nationally consistent, your provider’s programme must meet the requirements of the:

  • NPQ content and assessment framework, which sets out the knowledge and skills that providers must teach as part of each NPQ, and the tasks and criteria against which providers will be required to assess their candidates
  • NPQ quality framework, which sets out the standards of provision that providers must meet to retain their accreditation

Who can apply

You should be, or aspire to be, an executive headteacher or CEO of a MAT with responsibility for leading across several schools.

What’s involved

Study can last between 2 academic terms and 18 months, depending on your provider.

During this time you will:

  • develop knowledge and skills across 6 content areas, which set out what an effective executive leader should know and be able to do
  • have the opportunity to develop up to 7 important leadership behaviours, which set out how an effective leader should operate
  • complete a final assessment that evaluates your capability against the knowledge and skills set out in the 6 content areas

Content areas

The 6 content areas across which you will develop your executive leadership knowledge and skills are:

  • strategy and improvement
  • teaching and curriculum excellence
  • leading with impact
  • working in partnership
  • managing resources and risks
  • increasing capability

Leadership behaviours

The 7 leadership behaviours that you will have the opportunity to develop are:

  • commitment
  • collaboration
  • personal drive
  • resilience
  • awareness
  • integrity
  • respect

Structure and teaching methods

The structure of the NPQEL and teaching methods will vary between providers, but will include:

  • on-the-job leadership training
  • challenge and support – through a coach and/or mentor
  • access to high-quality resources, drawing on up-to-date research and evidence
  • professional development from and with credible peers
  • opportunities for structured reflection

Final assessment

You will:

  • design a sustainable business development strategy for your organisation, analysing the benefits, costs and risks of different options
  • lead a project to improve progress and attainment in several schools

Through these 2 projects, you will need to demonstrate your competence through an assessment linked to the knowledge and skills set out in the 6 content areas.

Costs

Costs vary between providers. You should contact a provider for full details of their costs.

Funding

NPQ funding for the financial year 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 is fully committed. Details of NPQ funding for the financial year 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 will be confirmed in due course.

Published 20 October 2017
Last updated 26 February 2020 + show all updates

  1. Updated to show NPQ funding for the financial year 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 is fully committed.

  2. First published.

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