National professional qualification

Leading teaching

Summary

For
Classroom teachers and middle leaders
Course duration
12 months
Average weekly study time

1 to 2 hours

Study type

Mix of self-study and group sessions

Assessment type

Reflection based on case study (1,500 words)

Next start

October 2023

Course overview

This one-year course will help you gain confidence and develop skills in:

  • helping create a culture of high expectations
  • supporting colleagues with all aspects of their teaching
  • contributing to effective professional development linked to teaching, curriculum and assessment

Who this course is for

This course is for teachers and middle leaders who have, or want to have:

  • responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage or phase

What you’ll learn

This course covers themes including:

  • understanding what good teaching practice is and how to implement it
  • supporting colleagues to design a broad and coherent curriculum
  • planning effective lessons and stimulate your pupils’ thinking
  • helping colleagues adapt their teaching to different needs
  • contributing to the design of school assessment systems
  • aligning your professional development with wider school improvement priorities

How you and your school could benefit

Develop as a specialist in your role

You’ll gain an understanding of the core principles behind the science of learning, get practical tools and guidance to sequence your curriculum and plan for assessment in your specific subject and context.

Gain the skills for successful leadership

You’ll build the expertise to effectively manage a team of teachers and create a culture of professional learning and continuous improvement in your school.

Learn to support colleagues effectively

You’ll develop the skills to help colleagues plan effective lessons, meet individual pupil needs and provide opportunities for all pupils to succeed.

Learn with people from different education settings

Take advantage of training alongside a diverse group of fellow educators with lots of different perspectives. You’ll be able to learn from each other’s experiences and bounce ideas off each other during group sessions and collaborative practical tasks.

Course structure

The DfE-approved providers offering this NPQ have designed their course content around an evidence-based framework.

The course covers 9 topics, with a mix of self-study and group coaching sessions, as well as face-to-face sessions with other participants.

On average you’ll need to spend between 1 and 2 hours per week working towards completing this NPQ. Where possible, you should do this during dedicated career development time in school hours.

Providers

You can train with one of the following providers:

They work with delivery partners, such as teaching school hubs, to provide training.

How this NPQ is assessed

To get your NPQ accreditation you’ll need to:

  • complete the course
  • pass a written assessment (1,500 words) at the end

Your course provider will be able to give you more details about how the assessment works.

Course funding

Full DfE funding, with no cost to the participant, is available to staff from:

  • state-funded schools in England
  • state-funded organisations that offer 16 to 19 places in England
Funding is currently available if you start your NPQ in the 2022 to 2023 academic year or the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

You can do more than one NPQ, but will only be eligible for funding for each NPQ once. If you withdraw or fail your course you cannot get funded again for the same NPQ.

Apply

Step 1

Speak to your line manager to get support for you doing this NPQ.

Step 2

Once you have your school’s approval, they’ll be able to help you choose a training provider.

Step 3

Register with us so we can confirm you’re eligible to take this course for free.

We’ll give your details to your chosen provider once you have registered. They’ll then send you an application form.