National Professional Qualification for Leading Teaching (NPQLT)

This course is designed for teachers, current or aspiring middle leaders in a phase, key stage or subject and senior leaders.

Learn what outstanding teaching looks like and use this knowledge to become a high performing leader of teaching.

• A 12-month specialist qualification
• Excel as a leader of teaching
• Flexible learning to suit your timetable
• Fully funded for those from the highest 50% of disadvantaged schools, £899 for those not in an eligible school

Who is this NPQ suitable for?

Must be a teacher who has, or is aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage, or phase.

Participants must be in, or have been in, a teaching role.

Example roles include:

• Year group leader; curriculum / subject leader; Key stage/phase leader; Head of department; class teacher; Head of Geography; Head of Outdoor Learning; Head of Phase / phase leader.
• Those that directly manage a team of teachers and their work is focussed on supporting effective teaching across a school.

Benefits for you

• Excel as a teacher: delve into the nuts and bolts of what makes an effective teacher, what good teaching looks like, and how you can lead others and they can learn from you.
• Build on existing experience: this programme helps you to unpack and apply learning in teaching, curriculum and assessment – and to support others to develop in these areas. That’s whether you are a classroom teacher keen to develop your knowledge or a head of department wanting to maximise your impact.
• Align to wider school priorities: learn what good teaching practice looks like, how to implement it and support colleagues to adapt teaching to different needs, design and deliver effective professional development, and align colleagues’ learning with wider school priorities.
• Invest in your future: ongoing professional development helps you to grow and thrive as a teacher. You will follow an evidence-based framework and gain a professional accreditation at the end of the programme.
• Learn at your pace: this programme is designed to fit around your busy teaching role. Much of the work can be completed in short bursts around your existing schedule.
• Connect with your peers: you will train alongside other teachers from similar school contexts. You can share your experiences and build a strong support network.

Benefits for your school

• Access the latest learning: teachers will bring evidence-based teaching and learning into classrooms, meaning high quality teaching and improved pupil outcomes.
• Aligned to school improvement priorities; our NPQLT teaches participants how to help their colleagues adapt their teaching to
• different needs and align colleagues’ learning with wider your school priorities.
• Create a ‘golden thread’ – the NPQs are all aligned. So, no matter what career stage your teachers are at, by joining this programme, they will benefit from an evidence-based framework. They will also share a common language with other NPQ participants that they can pass on to colleagues.
• Identify future leaders: competent and confident teachers who excel in their roles will be more likely to apply for middle or senior positions in your school when they arise.
• Retain your teaching talent: by allowing teachers to develop and nurture their talents in specialist areas you are investing in their future. This will boost their confidence, making them feel supported and less likely to apply for jobs elsewhere.
• Tap into a network: your teachers will train alongside peers from other schools with similar contexts, supported by facilitators that fully understands your needs

About the course

This programme follows the Department for Education’s National Professional Qualification (NPQ): Leading Teaching Framework.

On this programme, you will learn how to:

• explain important ideas about the science of learning
• understand what good teaching practice is and how to implement it
• support colleagues to design a broad and coherent curriculum
• plan effective lessons and stimulate your pupils’ thinking
• help colleagues adapt their teaching to different needs
• contribute to the design of school assessment systems
• align your professional development with wider school improvement priorities.

Our programme structure

Our ‘little and often’ approach means you can engage with our NPQs around your work schedule, with minimal time needed out of school: there is one face to face launch conference to introduce you to the programme, your fellow participants and to meet your facilitators.  There are six 2-hour online facilitated twilight sessions across the year to reinforce your guided self-study online.  Your online study which can be done at a time to suit you and will take around 45 minutes to an hour each week.

Final assessment

Our NPQ courses no longer include a large project at the end. Instead, you’ll sit an ‘open book’ style assessment in which you respond to a short case study.

The assessment window starts at the end of the 12-month programme.

During this time:

• You’ll be given an eight-day window to complete the case study.
• There are two assessment windows every year, and participants can sit the assessment twice, if they need to.
• You need to pass the assessment and engage with 90% of the course to qualify for the NPQ accreditation.
• We will offer two webinars and live clinic in advance of the assessment window to support you.

Costs and scholarship funding

New funding arrangements for NPQs – applications open on 1st July 2024

The DfE have announced that NPQ funding from Autumn 2024 will be targeted to those teachers and leaders serving more disadvantaged communities.

There will now be a capped number of funded 10,000 places nationally. Funding for the April 2025 cohorts and beyond has not been confirmed.

Scholarship-funded places are extremely limited on each NPQ programme, so access to funding will be subject to availability. 

To have the best chance of claiming a funded place, please apply as soon as possible to the DfE AND Ambition Institute via our application process once applications open on 1st July 2024: participants from eligible schools identified below will be prioritised on a first come first served basis. Other places are available at a cost to schools and settings.

For the LT, funded scholarships will be available on a first come first served basis for those who meet the following criteria:

• Work in the 50% of schools with the highest proportion of students who attract pupil premium funding or early years settings identified as having high disadvantage in England

If you’re unsure whether you will qualify for this ‘pupil premium’ based on funding, please use Ambition Institute’s online eligibility check tool.  Some nurseries are not available yet on the tool. If you work in a nursery and / or you cannot see your school or setting, please contact us directly at [email protected]

Scholarship-funded places are limited, so access to funding will be subject to availability. To have the best chance of claiming a funded place, please apply as soon as possible once applications open. 

Costs for others, such as those in independent schools or those who do not meet this criteria is £899 + VAT

How to apply

Applications close in early September in readiness for an October start.