National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH)

Participants completing NPQH will develop the knowledge and skills that underpin excellent school leadership and will be able to apply it to becoming an outstanding Headteacher going forwards.

What is the NPQH?

NPQH gives candidates all of the essential knowledge, skills and concepts that underpin successful headship with candidates learning how to:

  • Establish and sustain the school’s strategic direction, with those responsible for governance;

  • Establish and sustain an effective culture across the school;

  • Establish and sustain effective planning and preparation across the school;

  • Ensure teaching across the school includes effective explanations and modelling;

  • Ensure teaching across the school stimulates pupil thinking and understanding.

Who is NPQH suitable for?

The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) is suitable for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, a Headteacher or Head of School with responsibility for leading a school.

Although some Headteachers and Principals still teach, the role is primarily a strategic and operational one and relies on working with and through their colleagues (in particular, through the leadership team) to ensure every pupil gets an excellent education.

The fully blended learning approach combined with performance coaching and enrichment activities make this an exciting and valuable opportunity for current and aspiring headteachers.

The NPQH qualification is aligned to Masters credits and can act as a springboard on to Liverpool Hope University’s MA in Leading in Education or the MBA in Educational Leadership.

How does it work?

“I have been impressed with how easy it is to collaborate with other participants and bounce ideas off one another.”

David Bremner, Distance Learning NPQH, New Cairo British International School

Participants access online learning and support via our virtual learning environment (VLE) Canvas. Through Canvas, participants are able to engage with their learning communities of peers and access multimedia content. They can also access research and expert-led school practice aligned to the curriculum content for the qualification and receive high-quality feedback from experienced performance coaches.

The assessment window starts at the end of the programme and during this time, participants will be given a window in which to sit an ‘open book’ style assessment in which they respond to a short case study.

We run two intakes of NPQH each academic year with these cohorts commencing in the autumn and spring terms.

Alternatively, have you considered the NPQEL?

For more information about NPQH, application deadline and costs, please contact Mark Bignell on mark@espeducation.co.uk