National professional qualifications (NPQs)

National professional qualifications (NPQs) are Department for Education qualifications for teachers and leaders in England, built on frameworks that set out what people in each role should know and be able to do. Specialist NPQs cover teachers who lead an area of practice, leadership NPQs cover senior leaders and headteachers, and there is an NPQ for special educational needs coordinators, now the mandatory SENCO qualification. DfE-accredited lead providers deliver them, mostly part-time over a year or two alongside your job.

The specialist NPQs

These are for teachers who lead, or want to lead, a particular area of practice across a school or a phase.

NPQ	Who it is for
Leading teacher development (NPQLTD)	Teachers who train or mentor other teachers, including ECT mentors and induction tutors
Leading teaching (NPQLT)	Heads of department, subject leads and phase leads
Leading behaviour and culture (NPQLBC)	Teachers responsible for behaviour, pastoral systems or wellbeing
Leading literacy (NPQLL)	Teachers leading reading and writing across a school, year group or phase
Leading primary mathematics (NPQLPM)	Primary teachers who lead maths, delivered with the maths hubs

The specialist courses tend to be shorter than the leadership ones and mix online study, face-to-face or virtual sessions and a final assessment. If you lead a subject and are unsure which to take, leading teaching is the general option, and the others go deeper into one area.

The leadership NPQs

The senior leadership NPQ (NPQSL) is for current or aspiring assistant and deputy headteachers. It covers leadership across a whole school, including curriculum, behaviour, staff development and working with governors.

The headship NPQ (NPQH) is for headteachers and people within reach of headship. England does not legally require it to become a head, but many governing boards list it as desirable, and it shows you have prepared. How to become a headteacher covers the rest of that route.

The executive leadership NPQ (NPQEL) is for people running more than one school, such as chief executives and executive heads in multi-academy trusts.

The early years leadership NPQ (NPQEYL) is for managers of early years settings, including nursery managers and leaders of school nursery classes.

The NPQ for SENCOs

The NPQ for special educational needs coordinators (NPQSENCO) replaced the older National Award for SEN Coordination. Newly appointed SENCOs in mainstream schools in England must achieve it within the period set in the SEND regulations, and the school has to support them to do so. Teachers who already held the National Award before the change do not need the NPQ. How to become a SENCO explains the role and the rest of the requirements.

How the courses work

Each NPQ follows a published framework of “learn that” and “learn how to” statements. You take a series of online modules and live sessions, apply the content in your own school and finish with an assessment. The final assessment is usually a nationally set written case study in which you respond to a scenario using what you have learned. You can resit if you do not pass.

Expect a few hours most weeks on the course, more in assessment periods. Your headteacher or line manager normally has to confirm they support your application, because the course draws on your school time and you need chances to apply what you learn.

Funding

The DfE funds NPQs for some teachers and settings and not others, and the rules change from year to year. Funding has been targeted at schools with high proportions of disadvantaged pupils, special schools and certain early years settings, and the SENCO NPQ has had wider funding because it is mandatory. Where there is no funding, your school pays the provider’s fee or, occasionally, you do.

Check the current funding rules on GOV.UK and ask your provider about eligibility before you register. A colleague’s free place last year does not mean yours will be free this year.

How NPQs fit into a career

An NPQ will not move you up a pay range by itself. Pay in maintained schools depends on your post and the school’s pay policy. A teaching and learning responsibility payment (TLR) or a move onto the leadership range comes with a role, and the qualification helps you get that role. From September 2026, TLR2 payments run from £3,651 to £8,913 and the leadership range in England outside London starts at £53,586. See TLR payments for teachers for how these work.

Applications open at set points in the year through the DfE’s register for an NPQ service, with courses starting in the autumn and spring. To start in the autumn, talk to your line manager in the summer term so your application has their backing in time.