National Professional Qualifications:
The National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are a national, voluntary suite of recognised professional qualifications, designed to support the professional development of teachers, leaders, and aspiring leaders inside and outside of the classroom. They are part of a wider set of DfE reforms to teacher development, which together create a ‘golden thread’ of high-quality, evidence informed teacher development opportunities, spanning across the entirety of a teacher’s career.
We are delighted to be working in partnership with two of the NPQ lead training providers:
Working together with Education Development Trust and Best Practice Network means that as a Teaching School Hub we can ensure that all teachers and leaders have local access to partner led delivery. Thus, enabling us to develop and nurture the local school leaders of the future.
For more detailed information on the suite of NPQs available to you through both lead training providers, please click below.
***Expansion of the reformed suite of NPQs***
The DfE are working to expand the suite of reformed NPQs to include a leadership level NPQ for special educational needs co-ordinators and a specialist NPQ focused on leading mathematics in a primary school.
As announced in the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, the new NPQ for SENCOs will replace the existing National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCO) as the mandatory qualification for SENCOs from September 2024.
Teaching of the NPQ for SENCOs will commence in Autumn 2024. Further information on what this means for schools and SENCOs is available here. The content framework which underpins the qualification and outlines what participants should know and be able to do after completing the NPQ for SENCOs, can be viewed here.
A new NPQ in Leading Primary Mathematics (NPQLPM) will launch in Spring 2024. The content framework which will underpin the qualification and outlines what participants will learn and will be able to do after completing the NPQLPM, can be viewed here.
The DfE have published a framework release pack, which also contains a Q&A document, that can be accessed here.
Click here to view a DfE blog post to hear from some NPQ participants as to why now is the perfect time to take an NPQ. The DfE's NPQ promotional videos can also be viewed below.
Click here to view a blog post about the free funding available for National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for teachers and school leaders.