National Professional Qualification for Headteachers
NPQH
You should be, or aspire to be, a Headteacher with cross-school responsibilities, for example:
an experienced senior leader, a deputy headteacher, a serving headteacher
other senior staff including Assistant Heads leading initiatives across the school, other individual with whole school responsibility.
This includes senior leaders working across more than one school, for example, directors of Initial Teacher Training
What’s involved
Study can last between 2 academic terms and 12 months,
During this time you will:
develop knowledge and skills across 6 content areas, which set out what an effective senior leader should know and be able to do
have the opportunity to develop up to 7 key leadership behaviours, which set out how an effective leader should operate
complete a final assessment that evaluates your capability against the knowledge and skills set out in the 6 content areas
Content areas
The 6 content areas across which you will develop your senior leadership knowledge and skills are:
strategy and improvement
teaching and curriculum excellence
leading with impact
working in partnership
managing resources and risks
increasing capability
Leadership behaviours
The 7 leadership behaviours that you will have the opportunity to develop are:
commitment
collaboration
personal drive
resilience
awareness
integrity
respect
Structure and teaching methods
The course is designed to be completed through blended learning including:
on-the-job leadership training
360 leadership analysis evaluation
challenge and support - through a coach and/or mentor
access to high-quality resources, drawing on up-to-date research and evidence
professional development from and with credible peers
opportunities for structured reflection
Final assessment
You will complete two projects: a school improvement project within your current school across the whole school, lasting at least 2 terms, aimed at reducing variation in pupil progress and attainment, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching; a school improvement project on a contrasting school. The contrasting placement looks specifically at managing resources and risk as well as increasing capacity and capability.
Through these projects, you will need to demonstrate your competence through an assessment linked to the knowledge and skills set out in the 6 content areas.