National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL)
For school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities.
At a glance
Course duration
18 Months
Face-to-face Events
4
Online learning
38 hours
Coaching
6 hours
Total Learning Hours
90 hours
What are the benefits?
The NPQSL is a DfE accredited qualification.
The content and processes used within the programme are subject to robust external quality assurance so that schools and participants can have confidence that the areas studied have direct relevance to their current needs.
The NPQSL qualification is aligned to Masters credits and can act as a springboard on to Liverpool Hope University’s MA in Leading in Education or the MBA in Educational Leadership.
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Benefits for participants
- Facilitation and support from serving school leaders in outstanding schools
- Purpose-built virtual learning environment enabled for mobiles and tablets
- Delivery at local venues
- Support to pass the final assessment
- Content contextualised for your locality and updated to reflect national developments and legislation
- Assessment tasks that involve professional enquiry into relevant aspects of your school’s current practices
- Choose what to study. Our regular needs analysis support participants to focus their energies on those aspects of their leadership they most wish to develop
- Flexible delivery arrangements according to needs and circumstances e.g. provision for staff who work part-time
- The NPQSL qualification is aligned to Masters credits and can act as a springboard on to Liverpool Hope University’s MA in Leading in Education or the MBA in Educational Leadership
Benefits for Schools - develop leaders who
- Are able to make a positive contribution to a wide range of whole school activities
- Are equipped with essential knowledge and understanding of what we are learning about effective practice in both operational and strategic leadership and management at a whole school level
- Have the skills necessary to successfully implement sustainable changes intended to secure improved pupil outcomes
- Recognise the importance of having a secure evidence-base to underpin their strategic decision-taking and is familiar with the science of learning
- Shares common understandings and a shared professional language with other leaders in your school - the 'golden thread' of professional development
Who is it for?
NPQSL is suitable for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities.
Although the role varies, many senior leaders contribute to all aspects of the school through the leadership team as well as having a specific whole school responsibility of their own.
This means the role is often both operational and strategic and relies on working with and through colleagues (in particular, through middle leaders) to ensure every pupil gets an excellent education.
How is NPQSL delivered?
NPQSL makes use of a blended delivery model consisting of face-to-face events, online study, webinars and coaching.
Face-to-Face
NPQSL participants will attend 4 face-to-face events via the blended delivery model.
Our nationwide delivery partnership network allows us to bring face-to-face training to a school near you, facilitated by local school leaders.
Online Learning
Participants access online learning and support via our virtual learning environment (VLE) Canvas. Through Canvas, participants are able to engage with their learning communities of peers and access multimedia content, research and expert school-led practice aligned to the curriculum content for the qualification. They can also receive high-quality feedback from experienced performance coaches and submit work for assessment.
NPQSL Delivery Structure
Applicants must have full support from their school/organisation. A head teacher, member of the SLT, line manager or Chair of Governors (or similar authoritative role) must confirm their support and that all information submitted is true and correct. This is a Department for Education mandatory requirement.
To apply for NPQSL, applicants must have the following:
- Teacher Reference Number - see TRN Support Guide
- 2 years teaching experience
- Leadership aspiration/experience
If you are unsure if you meet the above requirements or have other relevant experience then please contact our team who will be able to support your application.
The National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL) costs £1,145 plus VAT if applicable.
- Candidates from international schools should visit our NPQSL international page for international prices
Scholarships
NPQ scholarships for the Spring 2025 Cohort are extremely limited, so please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
The limited funding will target those teachers and leaders who work in the most challenging schools or educational settings, serving more disadvantaged communities. The limited scholarships will cover the full NPQ course cost and will be available to teachers and leaders from:
- The 50% of schools with the highest proportion of students who attract pupil premium funding
- 16 to 19 educational settings identified as having high disadvantage
- All scholarships are subject to availability - apply now for the best chance of receiving a scholarship!
The leadership performance coach is a participant’s main point of contact for the duration of the NPQSL. Our leadership performance coaches are experienced teachers and leaders who are experts in our programme curriculum. They understand first-hand the challenges teachers experience in work life. Their role is to support a participant's progress and development through the programme. They support you by:
- Providing advice and feedback throughout the programme
- Marking and responding to all of your practice task activities completed for each online course
- Providing you with feedback on each of the Formative Assessment Tasks following their completion
Our leadership performance coaches apply flexibility and are accountable to ensure success on your programme. With the above responsibilities, their main role and purpose is to help you manage your workload and ensure work life balance as much as possible whilst studying with us.
At the end of the programme, in conjunction with their mentor and in-school performance coach, participants will evaluate the impact of the programme on their leadership development and the benefits to their school.
The NPQ frameworks are based on a robust method of design and development, building on the evidence base and expert guidance already established in the ECF and the ITT Core Content Framework. The NPQ frameworks reflect the Teachers’ Standards and Headteachers' Standards to ensure coherency with the requirements already used by the teaching profession.
Please see the NPQSL Framework below. If your computer or device does not support the Adobe plugin you can download the framework pdf here.
How to apply
We are now accepting applications for the Spring 2025 Cohort. Click below to apply.
Apply Now
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