National Professional Qualification (NPQLT) for Leading Teaching

For teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage or phase.

We’re pleased to be continuing to partner with education charity Ambition Institute, Beckfoot Trust and Dixons Academies Trust to deliver the new NPQ for Headship. Within 12 months, participants will develop the knowledge that underpins expert school leadership and apply it to become outstanding headteachers.

What are National Professional Qualifications (NPQs)?

The National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) provide training and support for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high-quality teaching practice, such as behaviour management, to those leading multiple schools across trusts.

National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are the most widely recognised qualifications in the education sector for current and aspiring leaders. NPQs are open to all teachers and leaders in schools in England and Wales.

What our teachers will learn:

  • How to become excellent leaders of teaching
  • How to unpack and apply learning in teaching, curriculum and assessment
  • At a time and pace that suits their existing timetable.

Benefits to our schools:

  • One of a series of new, specialist NPQs
  • Access to the latest learning
  • Retain your teaching talent.

Why this programme?

Accredited NPQ Provider

Ambition Institute has designed this ground-breaking new NPQ to help you develop the knowledge and understanding of what excellent classroom teaching looks like.

The programme uses the latest evidence-based learning and shows you how to put your findings into practice in your own school context. You will learn alongside other teachers from schools with similar challenges and circumstances.

The new and reformed NPQs have been developed as a complete series, sharing a common language. This means you can have confidence that all the educators in your school are building and developing their knowledge from the same evidence-based framework.

We know that teachers’ schools’ and trusts’ needs vary. So its programmes are designed with flexibility in mind and can be completed at a time that suits you best and fits in with your existing role. Through Steplab, the innovative personal development platform built for teachers, by teachers, you will have access to your modules and practice activities to help you get better faster.

Why were the NPQs reformed?

The reformed National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) offer teachers and leaders clearer development opportunities and career progression. These qualifications will build on key areas of the Early Career Framework (ECF), allowing for further specialisation and development of expertise and help prepare teachers and leaders for the next step in their careers.

The reformed qualifications aim to:

  • Help teachers hone and develop the skills they already have, helping them to become more effective leaders inside and outside the classroom and improving overall teaching quality.
  • Retain high-calibre teachers by offering clearer development opportunities and career progression.

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.

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.

Train to your timetable

This programme is designed to fit around your teaching role and much of the work can be completed in bite-size chunks around your existing work timetable.

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.

Create a ‘golden thread’

The new 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.

Access the latest learning

Teachers will bring evidence-based teaching and learning into classrooms, meaning high-quality teaching and improved pupil outcomes.

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.

What you’ll learn

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

How you’ll learn

The content is delivered through blended learning. This includes a mix of real-time interactive sessions, face-to-face training, peer-led sessions and self-guided modules you complete in your own time.

Note: programme content is subject to change.

Assessment

The assessment window starts at the end of the 12-month programme and runs for three months. During this time, participants will be given an eight-day window to sit an ‘open book’ style assessment in which they respond to a short case study.

There are two assessment windows every year, and participants can sit the assessment two times, if they need to.

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

Ambition Institute will offer a webinar and live clinic in advance of the assessment window to support participants.