National Professional Qualification
s (NPQs) for UK Schools
Applications are now closed for the Spring 2022 NPQ Intake. If you would like to join the Autumn 2022 NPQ Intake please register your interest.
NPQs
All of the qualifications are based on NPQ Frameworks which draw from the very latest evidence and research and complete the golden thread, running from initial teacher training through to school leadership, rooting teacher and school leader development in the best available evidence and collective wisdom of the profession.
Apprenticeships
We offer three Apprenticeship with NPQ programmes which come with either the full NPQSL, NPQH or NPQEL. These apprenticeships offer extra support and training and lead to participants being awarded an extra recognised apprenticeship standard as well as the full NPQ - funding for these programmes comes by way of the Apprenticeship Levy. The following Apprenticeships with NPQs are available:
- Senior Leaders Apprenticeship with NPQSL
- Headteachers Apprenticeship with NPQH
- Executive Leaders Apprenticeship with NPQEL
Specialist NPQs
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National Professional Qualification: Leading Teaching
(NPQLT)
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For teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage or phase.
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Intakes
Autumn & Spring
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Duration
12 months
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Delivery Model
Online-only
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DfE Accreddited
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# face-to-face days
3
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# online Learning hours
34
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Personal Online Tutor
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PERFORMANCE Coaching
6 hours
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Total learning hours
82
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Assessment
Case study scenario
National Professional Qualification: Leading Behaviour & Culture
(NPQLBC)
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For teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading behaviour and/or supporting pupil wellbeing in their school.
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Intakes
Autumn & Spring
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Duration
12 months
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Delivery Model
Online-only
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DfE Accreddited
-
# face-to-face days
3
-
# online Learning hours
34
-
Personal Online Tutor
-
PERFORMANCE Coaching
6 hours
-
Total learning hours
82
-
Assessment
Case study scenario
National Professional Qualification: Leading Teacher Development
(NPQLTD)
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For teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading the development of other teachers in their school.
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Intakes
Autumn & Spring
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Duration
12 months
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Delivery Model
Online-only
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DfE Accreddited
-
# face-to-face days
3
-
# online Learning hours
34
-
Personal Online Tutor
-
PERFORMANCE Coaching
6 hours
-
total learning hours
82
-
Assessment
Case study scenario
Leadership NPQs



National Professional Qualification:
Senior Leadership
(NPQSL)
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For those who are, or aspire to be, senior leaders leading across a school
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Intakes
Autumn & Spring
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Duration
18 months
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Delivery Model
Face-to-face or online-only
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DfE Accreddited
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# face-to-face days
4
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# online LEARNING hours
38
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Personal Online Tutor
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performance Coaching
10 hours
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Total learning hours
98
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Assessment
Case study scenario
National Professional Qualification:
Headship
(NPQH)
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For those who are, or aspire to be, headteachers leading across a whole school
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Intakes
Autumn & Spring
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Duration
18 months
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Delivery Model
Face-to-face or online-only
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DfE Accreddited
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# face-to-face days
5
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# online LEARNING hours
38
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Personal Online Tutor
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performance Coaching
10 hours
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total learning hours
112
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Assessment
Case study scenario
National Professional Qualification:
Executive Leadership
(NPQEL)
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For those who are, or aspire to be, executive leaders with responsibility across more than one school
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Intakes
Autumn & Spring
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Duration
18 months
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Delivery Model
Face-to-face or online-only
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DfE Accreddited
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# face-to-face days
6 (including 1 x 2 day event)
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# online LEARNING hours
38
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Personal Online Tutor
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performance Coaching
10 hours
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total learning hours
124
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Assessment
Case study scenario
Apprenticeships with NPQs
The following Apprenticeship programmes offer a standalone NPQ with the added benefits of extended leadership training, extra content & resources and the wraparound support offered by a dedicated Apprenticeship Tutor. Funding comes by way of a school's Apprenticeship Levy pot or government co-investment.

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Why Choose OLP?
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Outstanding Leaders Partnership is a national, school-led partnership recently rated an ‘exceptional training provider’ by the DfE Quality Assurance Agent. It is supported by Best Practice Network.
The quality review was based on the DfE National Professional Qualification (NPQ) Quality Framework. The reviewers examined leadership and governance, face-to-face delivery, online courses, participant, facilitator and tutor support, assessment, organisation, quality control, marketing and recruitment, as well as the DfE metrics and impact. The reviewers identified exceptional performance in most areas of the Quality Framework.
Read the full summary of our DfE Quality Review results here.
Our Impact
Outstanding Leaders Partnership has trained over 12,000 school leaders since 2017 and together with Best Practice Network is the leading training provider to education professionals in England.
In addition to the National Professional Qualifications, we offer school leader and early years apprenticeships, Early Years Initial Teacher Training, the National Award for SEN Coordination, Higher Level Teaching Assistant status and the level 4 diploma for School Business Managers.
We are also excited to be able to add training and support for Early Career Teachers and their Mentors to our programme suite as a DfE approved national provider for the Early Career Framework reforms.
We exceed a 93% pass rate across all our programmes
We have exceeded DfE metrics for the NPQs for school leaders for the last 5 years – see metrics here
97% of candidates would recommend us to a colleague
Key Principles of the Outstanding Leaders Partnership

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The partnership is supported by Best Practice Network (BPN), an accredited and award-winning national organisation that specialises in professional development training for schools and nurseries.
Why choose us?
By choosing us, schools can be confident that the programmes their staff will follow are founded upon the following four pillars:
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The content of our programmes are based upon the latest research into effective teaching and leadership strategies.
The processes underpinning our programme design encourage participants to rigorously explore and test these research findings in their own contexts. - We know that providing teachers and leaders with evidence of effective strategies for improving outcomes for children and young people is essential, but alone this is not sufficient if planned changes are to become deep-rooted and sustained. Leaders also need to understand the complexities involved when implementing change. Our programmes provide high-quality guidance on the tools and techniques available.
- We constantly challenge our participants and ourselves to ask 'what difference is this making to children in your school?' This is a theme visited at regular intervals during our programmes and culminates in an individual end of programme impact review. We know our programmes do make a difference as evidenced through our Annual Reviews and through DfE Reviews which commended OLP's 'exceptional performance' against most areas of their Quality Framework.
- By consistently choosing OLP, schools can be confident that their staff are developing shared understandings and a common professional language which will support, enrich, and enhance their school improvement strategies.
"I got the headship! The course was absolutely instrumental in my success at interview – I felt so confident because of my reading and the work we’ve done on the face-to-face days and projects. Thank you for your support and encouragement – it really helped.”"
Watch the video below to learn more about Outstanding Leaders Partnership and hear how our qualifications have impacted the careers of teachers and the attainment of pupils.