National Professional Qualification for Leading Teacher Development (NPQLTD)

Choose our NPQ for Leading Teacher Development and you’ll be joining over 35,000 teachers and school leaders (as of May 2025), who have decided on an Ambition NPQ since they launched in 2021.

Evidence informed curriculum
Our carefully sequenced and evidence informed NPQ is designed around the key problems you face. Learn to implement professional development that improves teaching and learning for every colleague you work with.

Access the latest research
This includes insights into how we learn, the importance of carefully sequenced professional development so that it sticks and enabling conditions for effective teacher improvement.

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 NPQLTD.

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 NPQ.

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.

For previous cohorts, the Department for Education (DfE) has made scholarship funding for eligible applicants. Teachers and leaders who received a funded place were able to train at no cost to themselves or their school.

Scholarship funding for any future NPQ cohort has not yet been confirmed by the DfE, but we expect this in due course. To be updated as soon as we have news, please enquire above.

Without funding, the programme costs £899 +VAT.

To be eligible for this programme, you must be a teacher who has, or is aspiring to have, responsibility for leading other educators to develop.

You might support all teachers in your school, trainees or those early in their career.

NPQs are not suitable for active Early Career Teachers.

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

Our NPQ for Leading Teacher Development course follows the Department for Education’s National Professional Qualification (NPQ): Leading Teacher Development Framework.

On this programme, you will learn how to:

• make sure professional development in your school is focused on a shared responsibility for improving outcomes for all pupils
• diagnose what teachers know and can do, starting professional development from that point and adapting the approach based on developing their expertise
• help teachers improve through evidence-based professional development focused on improving classroom teaching
• gain an understanding of what teachers have learned by reviewing patterns of performance over a number of assessments
• develop and lead a team of colleagues who can facilitate a range of professional development approaches
• contextualise teacher development based on a variation of school, pupils and teacher needs.
• contribute to a programme of professional development for mentors, trainees and early career teachers.

Note: programme content is subject to change.

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 and runs for up to four months (subject to change by the DfE). During this time, you’ll be given an eight-day window to complete the case study.

Participants can sit the assessment twice, if they need to.

You need to complete the course to qualify for the NPQ accreditation.

We will offer a webinar and live clinic in advance of the assessment window to support you.

Assessment period in April 2026
If you’re starting a specialist NPQ in April 2025, please be aware your assessment could take place within an 8-day period between 1-24 April 2026; it is not always possible to avoid national holidays and/or school holidays due to DfE's assessment timelines.

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

If you are unable to find a local cohort, you can join Ambition’s national cohort and gain a national network of peers. Either way, we work to give you the best possible experience.

Find a cohort that’s local to you in our list of partners here.

Applications are now open for November 2025 cohorts. Start your application here >>

Don’t wait! Due to a change in DfE guidance, there’s no spring 2026 cohort across all NPQ providers. So, there’s only one chance to start this academic year!

To apply, you must be a teacher who has, or is aspiring to have, responsibility for leading other educators to develop. You might support all teachers in your school, trainees or those early in their career.

NPQs are not suitable for active Early Career Teachers.

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

Who is the NPQLTD programme for?
The NPQ for Leading Teacher Development is designed for serving teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibility for leading other educators to develop. You might support all teachers across your school, teacher trainees, or early career teachers.

You might be a headteacher or principal; deputy or assistant headteacher; head of teaching development; CPD lead; head of department, phase, key stage or subject; or classroom teacher.

How long does the NPQLTD programme last?
The NPQ for Leading Teacher Development is a twelve month programme, with a mixture of live, facilitated sessions and self-directed learning.

How does the NPQLTD programme accommodate busy schedules?
The NPQ for Leading Teacher Development is designed to fit around your schedule with a 'little and often' approach that aligns with insights from the science of learning.

Are there any specific requirements to enrol on the NPQLTD programme?
To be eligible for the NPQ for Leading Teacher Development, you must be a serving teacher in a school or eligible organisation in England and have completed your early career training.