Senior Leadership
We are pleased to partner with education charity Ambition Institute to deliver the NPQ for Senior Leadership. This 18-month programme helps participants to develop their leadership knowledge and expertise to improve outcomes for teachers and pupils in their schools.
Those doing the training will learn:
- How to enact positive change across their school
- Evidence-based knowledge taught by leadership experts
- At a time and pace that suits their existing timetable.
Benefits to your school:
- Learning backed by the latest evidence
- Create a leadership pipeline
- Attract and retain teaching staff.
Benefits for you
Train to your timetable
This programme is designed to be flexible to fit with your busy working role. Training is delivered in bite-sized chunks, which is useful for knowledge retention, and you can learn at a time and pace that suits you.
Build your confidence
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
Ambition Institute’s programmes are designed to support you to apply and translate what you’ve learned to your own school context. It does this by providing models and examples that seek to make the link between theory and practice concrete.
Benefit from peer-to-peer support
Learn from a network of like-minded peers and have the opportunity to share insight with colleagues in your own school setting.
Benefits for your school
Create a common knowledge base
NPQ qualifications are aligned, so you can have confidence that all 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.
Learning backed by evidence
Participants 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.
Why choose CET?
We are pleased to partner with education charity Ambition Institute to deliver the NPQ for Senior Leadership. This 18-month programme helps participants to develop their leadership knowledge and expertise to improve outcomes for teachers and pupils in their schools.
Those doing the training will learn:
- How to enact positive change across their school
- Evidence-based knowledge taught by leadership experts
- At a time and pace that suits their existing timetable.
Benefits to your school:
- Learning backed by the latest evidence
- Create a leadership pipeline
- Attract and retain teaching staff.
Curriculum
What you will 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.
How you will learn
The content is delivered through blended learning. This includes a mix of face-to-face conferences, real-time, interactive online sessions and self-guided modules you can complete in your own time.
You will put what you learn into practice in your school and can track your progress and get feedback as you go.
Note: programme content is subject to change
Assessment
The assessment window starts at the end of the 18-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.
Cost
DfE-funded scholarships for this NPQ will target those teachers and leaders who work in the most challenging schools or educational settings, serving more disadvantaged communities.
For the NPQ for Senior Leadership, funded scholarships will be available for those who meet the following criteria:
- Are, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities.
- Work in the 50% of schools with the highest proportion of students who attract pupil premium funding and 16 to 19 educational settings identified as having high disadvantage in England.
Check if you are eligible for funding
If you’re unsure whether you will qualify for this ‘pupil premium’ based on funding, please use Ambition’s online eligibility check tool.
To secure your funded place ahead of cohort launch, apply now.
*Currently nurseries are not available yet on the tool. If you work in a nursery, please contact Ambition directly at npqadmissions@ambition.org.uk
If you don’t work in an eligible school, the NPQ in Senior Leadership costs £1,139 plus VAT.
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.
Deadline for Online Applications:
Spring 2025
Contact npqs@cumbriaeducationtrust.org for further information
