Why us?
This new, fully funded National Professional Qualification (NPQ) gives you the chance to learn about evidence-based school leadership and put it into practice in your school or trust.
Our 'little and often' approach uses the latest research to help you apply your learning to persistent problems. You'll train alongside other leaders with similar responsibilities, focusing on the key challenges you face in your role.
With no project work and minimal time out of school, the NPQs are designed to fit around your busy timetable.
Register your school's interest: Register your school's interest in NPQSL
Benefits for you
Train to your timetable
The flexible programme is designed to fit in with your busy working role. Training is delivered in bite-sized chunks, which is useful for retaining knowledge, and you can learn at a time and pace that suits you.
Build your confidence
Learn how to excel as a leader and get the support you need to take the next step in your career.
Access the latest research
Benefit from the latest evidence-based learning and approaches to great teaching and leadership. See how it can improve schools and change lives.
Enact positive change
Translate what you’ve learned on this programme to your own school context. We'll help you do this by providing models and examples that seek to make the link between theory and practice concrete.
Get peer-to-peer support
Learn from a network of like-minded peers and have the share insights with colleagues in your own school setting.
Benefits for your school or trust
Create a common knowledge base
NPQ qualifications are aligned, so you can have confidence that all your educators will share a common language and framework to develop your school or trust.
Support your leaders
Senior leaders will be given the tools to drill down into specific areas of leadership to improve their knowledge, make evidence-informed decisions and action positive change.
Learn from evidence
Senior Leaders will be introduced to evidence-informed practices straightaway. This will help them develop strategies to improve teaching and pupil performance at your school.
Make a leadership pipeline
The programme will help to identify future leaders and create a positive culture where teachers can develop and thrive.
Boost attainment
Studies show that high-quality continuous professional development can improve pupil outcomes almost as effectively as having a teacher with 10 years’ experience in the classroom.
Curriculum
Our programmes are designed so you can engage in live, facilitated sessions alongside modules you can complete at any time.
Over 18 months, this includes:
- Two full day conferences (six hours each)
- Nine courses (each course lasts six weeks)
- Six modules within each course
- Six two-hour clinics (facilitated sessions).
- One two-hour assessment clinic.
- Nine communities (one-hour group sessions).
What you'll learn
This programme develops your leadership skills and knowledge and covers the content listed in the Department for Education’s NPQ Senior Leadership Framework.
You will learn how to:
- Set clear goals and communicate shared values that improve the culture in your classrooms and school
- Establish a safe and positive environment for pupils
- Support colleagues to meet individual needs and make sure all pupils have access to a rich curriculum
- Lead school-wide professional development for staff
- Make and act on evidence-informed decisions
- Work well with parents, carers, other schools and the wider community
- Lead by example, be accountable for decisions and make sure colleagues know their responsibilities.
Note: programme content is subject to change.
How you’ll learn
The programme is delivered through blended learning. This includes a mix of face-to-face conferences, real-time, interactive online sessions and self-guided modules to complete in your own time. You'll put what you learn into practice in your school, tracking your progress and getting feedback as you go.
Note: programme content is subject to change.
Partners
You can join our central cohort for this programme, or work with a delivery partner in your region for an experience that’s more tailored to your local context. Either way, we work to give you the best possible experience.
What our partners can do for you
Ambition Institute provides high-quality content and materials, built on our experience in schools and our deep knowledge of evidence and practice.
Our partner in your region will put this knowledge into context and manage your experience on the programme, from facilitation to day-to-day support.
The timings and methods of activity, sizes of cohorts and the cost of the programme may vary across delivery partners.
Contact a local partner
Use the map to find your nearest local partner.
Assessment
The assessment window starts at the end of the 18-month programme and runs for three months. During this time, you'll be given an eight-day window to sit an ‘open book’ style assessment in which you respond to a short case study.
There are two assessment windows every year, and you can sit the assessment twice, if needed.
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.
Cost
The criteria for DfE-funded scholarships is yet to be confirmed.
Register your interest here and we’ll let you know as soon as this is available.
Apply
We are now welcoming interest in our Autumn 2022 NPQ cohorts. Fill out this quick enquiry form and will be in touch when applications are open (subject to final contract agreement with the Department for Education).
To apply, you must be, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities. For example, you might be an assistant or deputy headteacher, or a head of department or faculty.
Funded places are only available to those working in schools in England.
If you have any questions, email [email protected] and a member of our team will be in touch with next steps.