National Professional Qualification for Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL)

Our carefully sequenced and evidence informed NPQ for Early Years Leadership is designed to equip you with the skills for leading with excellence in your setting.

• Length: 18 months.
• Delivery: Blended learning, that includes 'little and often' online and face to face learning.
• Qualification: Sector recognised qualification.
• Curriculum: Carefully sequenced and evidence informed.
• Cost: Limited funding for all state schools in England. Self-funded places available.

New for autumn 2026. The NPQ for Early Years Leadership is fully funded for settings in England

There are a limited number of funded places, which are available to those who:

• Are an early years practitioner who is qualified to at least level three, with a full and relevant early years or teaching qualification.
• Work in an eligible setting in England.

Suitable applicants from private, voluntary, independent (PVI) settings, Ofsted-registered early years childminders and maintained nursery schools will also be eligible to apply for a funded place.

If you do not work in an eligible setting, the NPQ for Early Years Leadership costs £1,139 plus VAT.

RISE intervention schools 
You may be eligible for funding if you work in a school that is eligible for targeted regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) intervention.

Check if you’re eligible!
If you're unsure whether you will qualify for funding, please use our online eligibility check tool.

Can't find your setting?
If you are a state school with a nursery who is appearing as not eligible for funding for this NPQEYL or a childminder, please contact us directly at [email protected]

Get in touch to find out more.

Self-funded payment options
If you are unable to access a DfE funded scholarship, you can pay for your NPQ.

We will invoice the school/trust/setting contact you provide in your application directly. Depending on your school or setting type, they maybe be able to reclaim VAT.

If you are unable to come to an arrangement with your school/setting, we can invoice you directly, but you will not be able to reclaim VAT.

Unfortunately, we do not offer payment plans for our NPQ programmes.

The cost of your programme must be paid in full before the start of your programme. We are unable to offer refunds once you start the programme.

DfE funding restrictions
Due to DfE funding being limited, being eligible for an NPQ scholarship does not guarantee either suitability for the course or that a funded course place is available.

If funded places are not available, you can:

• Approach a different NPQ provider to enquire about the availability of funded course places
• Choose to join your chosen providers waiting list
• Choose to pay for a course place

To apply, you need to be an early years practitioner who is qualified to at least level three, with a full and relevant early years or teaching qualification.

NPQs are not suitable for active Early Career Teachers.

You will be, or will be aspiring to be:

• A manager of a private, voluntary or independent early years setting
• A headteacher of a school-based or maintained early years setting
• An early years foundation stage leader in a state funded school (roles could include early years/KS1 phase leader, assistant or deputy headteacher, or class teachers aspiring to leadership)
• A childminder with leadership responsibilities.

If you have any questions, email [email protected] and a member of our team will be in touch with next steps.

Do you work in a school outside of England?
Find out more about our International NPQ offer here >>

Choose our NPQ for Early Years Leadership and you’ll be joining over 40,000 teachers and school leaders (as of May 2026), who have chosen Ambition for their NPQ since they were launched in 2021.

Evidence informed curriculum
Our carefully sequenced and evidence informed NPQ is designed around the key problems you face. You’ll develop your knowledge and understanding of what high-quality, early years education and care looks like.

Access the latest early years research
Our NPQ for Early Years Leadership includes core research areas like how early years leaders can deliver and sustain change, factors affecting child development and the importance of a positive culture to improve outcomes.

Train to your timetable
Our ‘little and often’ approach means you can engage with our NPQs around your busy timetable, with minimal time needed out of school. On average just one hour per week to engage in our NPQEYL.

No large project
Plus, on our NPQs there’s no large project at the end. Instead, you’ll sit an ‘open book’ assessment with support via two on-demand webinars and a dedicated, live assessment preparation clinic to help you get the most from your NPQEYL.

Join our charitable mission
We support teachers and school leaders at every stage of their careers, helping them to keep getting better. We are a charity providing training and professional development based on the most rigorous research and evidence about what really works.

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 18-month programme and your outcome is usually available within four months (subject to change by the DfE).

During this time:

• You’ll be given an eight-day window to complete the case study.
• You have two submission attempts. If you fail on the first submission, you will have one further opportunity to resit the assessment. You will submit the assessment in the next available assessment window.
• You need to complete 90% of the programme and pass the assessment to gain the qualification.
• We will offer a live clinic in advance of the assessment window to support you.

Join a local cohort with one of our regional delivery partners and benefit from our expert curriculum design along with a tailored experience linked to your local context.

If there isn't currently a delivery partner in your area, you can join Ambition’s national cohort. Either way, we work to give you the best possible experience.

To look for your local delivery partner, use our interactive map tool.

Our delivery partners cover the majority of England's major regions, including:

• North of England: Country Durham, Cumbria, Gateshead, Middlesborough, Sunderland, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Tyneside, and more.
• Lancashire and Yorkshire: Lancashire, Cheshire, North Yorkshire, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Bradford, Kirklees and more.
• East Midlands and the Humber: Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and more.
• West Midlands: Birmingham, Sandwell, Shropshire, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Stoke-on-Trent, Warwickshire and more.
• East of England and North East London: Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Havering, Newham, Barking and Dagenham, King's Lynn and more.
• South Central England and North West London: City of London, Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Westminster, Reading, Slough, Camden, Islington, Berkshire, Basingstoke and more.
• South East and South West: Kent, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon, Bath and more.

Applications are now open for November 2026. Apply by 22 October 2026. Start your application here >>

Don't wait! There is no DfE funded spring 2027 cohort across all NPQ providers. So, there's only one chance to start this academic year!

• To apply you must be an early years practitioner who is qualified to at least level three, with a full and relevant early years or teaching qualification.
• Teacher Reference Number: To apply for an NPQ, you will need a Teacher Reference Number (TRN). If you do not have a TRN, you can request a temporary one. You can find out how to do that here.
• NPQs are not suitable for active Early Career Teachers.
  

DfE registration: Until you've completed a DfE registration, available from 23 June 2026, your registration and funding will not be confirmed. You can now register here.

Our application process in seven simple steps:

Step 1: On the programme page
Click ‘Apply now’.

Step 2: Set up your MyAmbition account
Create an account with your name, email address and password. Confirm your email to activate your account.

Step 3: Complete your application
Log in to MyAmbition, fill in your personal and professional details, and answer the application questions. Attach any required documents.

Step 4: Submit your application
Review your answers and click ‘Submit’.

Step 5: Application in review
You’re application will be reviewed and you will be contacted if more information is needed.

Step 6: Place offered
If your application is successful, we will send you an offer by email.

Step 7: Place accepted
Accept your offer on MyAmbition to secure your place.

National cohort location
Conference one for Ambition’s national NPQEYL autumn cohort will take place Wednesday 19 November and will be held at Hollywell Park Conferences, Loughborough University. Partner cohort locations and dates may vary.

Childminders
Please complete our enquiry form here and provide us with the name of your setting and your postcode.

If you have any questions, email [email protected] and a member of our team will be in touch with next steps.

Do you work in a school outside of England?
Find out more about our International NPQ offer here >>

We’re proud to be the largest provider of NPQs in England.

As an education charity, this helps our mission to support more teachers and school leaders serving children from disadvantaged backgrounds to keep getting better.

From our recent participant survey*, we heard that:

• 94% of participants agreed that their Ambition NPQ had helped them to develop their expertise as a school leader.
• 92% of participants agreed that as a result of their Ambition NPQ, they felt better equipped to carry out their current role.
• 93% of leaders agreed that staff completing an Ambition NPQ had supported their school to improve.

You can read more about what our NPQ participants have said here >>

*taken from our 2025 NPQ participant surveys.

We’re now welcoming interest in our NPQs from those working outside of England.

For schools and applicants working outside of England, content is delivered through blended learning. This includes a mix of real-time, interactive online sessions and self-guided modules you complete in your own time.

If you work in a school outside of England and are interested in one of our NPQs for yourself or your school, you can find out more about our International NPQ offer here >>