Develop the skills, knowledge and behaviours that you need to be a high-performing headteacher.

Apply

The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) supports the professional development of aspiring and serving headteachers.

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

Read them at the National professional qualifications: frameworks page.

Who can apply

You should be, or aspire to be, a headteacher or head of school.

This includes headteachers or heads of schools with roles across schools, for example, national leaders of education.

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 headteacher or head of school 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
  • undertake a placement at a school, in a different context from your own, for a minimum of 9 days
  • 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 senior 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 NPQH 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:

  • lead a school change programme, lasting at least 2 terms, to improve pupil progress and attainment
  • design an action plan to meet your placement school’s resourcing and capability needs

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 18 March 2014
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. Updated qualification description following national professional qualifications (NPQs) reforms.

  3. You can now apply for NPQH

  4. Application round is now closed.

  5. Updated following application close.

  6. Application round now open

  7. New dates added for the next application round – opens 11 December 2014.

  8. The application round is now open.

  9. First published.

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