NPQLL: National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy

Autumn 2025 cohort

About the programme

• Why join UCL?
• What will you learn?
• What are the benefits to you?
• What are the benefits for your school?
• Is this programme for me?
• How long will it take?
• When will it start and how much will it cost?
• Are scholarships available for this programme?
• Programme route map
• What do participants say?
• Contact us 

Why join UCL?

The UCL Centre for Educational Leadership looks forward to working with you on their newly designed NPQLL supporting you to deepen your knowledge of Leading Literacy within a collaborative and open learning environment.

Based on the latest research evidence for effective literacy pedagogy, this new programme will enable you to develop your knowledge and skills and put them into practice in your school context.

Our programmes put you and your school at the heart of the programme through a professional learning group approach that helps you to share your thinking and understanding within a well-planned framework.

You will experience a blended approach of face to face, self-directed study materials and in school support to enable you to progress professionally and develop networks to enhance your career.

What will you learn?

• Teaching – you will use what you learn to support teachers at all levels in your school to develop their knowledge of literacy development and literacy learning and to improve their literacy teaching, including language, reading and writing.
• Developing language – you will learn about the crucial role of language development in general academic success and in particular how oracy underpins literacy development. Within the context of your role, you will learn how to develop your school’s oracy teaching and provision and how to support your colleagues to maximise the opportunities to model and develop high-quality speaking and listening and to ensure high-quality talk is prioritised in the classroom.
• School culture – you will learn how to enhance literacy teaching and to champion all aspects of literacy across a school, strengthening your ability and that of your colleagues to contribute to a school culture in which pupils can thrive and succeed.
• Developing reading – you will learn how language development underpins reading development, you will deepen your knowledge of the key theories of reading development and explore the development of the component skills involved in reading and from the perspectives of different learners.
• Developing writing – you will deepen your knowledge of how to develop pupils' written transcription by working with colleagues to ensure that they know how to teach, spelling, handwriting and sentence construction.
• Professional development – you will deepen your knowledge of the best ways to provide effective professional development in literacy curriculum, pedagogy and assessment across the whole school community. You will engage in leading and developing a team of teachers focused on improving literacy attainment across your school.
• Subject and curriculum – you will learn about the fundamental importance of literacy and recognise the impact it has on pupils’ future achievement and life chances. You will learn how to support and improve high quality teaching, learning and assessment in your subject or phase. You will acquire the essential knowledge, skills and concepts that underpin successful literacy teaching.
• Implementation – focusing on literacy, you will learn how to implement change successfully within your context by understanding the stages of implementation and applying them with the support of your facilitators and colleagues.

What are the benefits to you?

Our participants have noted many benefits to studying for an NPQLL. Overall, they outline how the programme has given them professional confidence, time and space to reflect on themselves about the kind of leader they want to become and increased knowledge in their chosen area of study. 

You will be able to:

• Develop the skills, confidence and knowledge to implement new literacy initiatives successfully through a supported implementation project.
• Develop the skills to implement meaningful interventions as part of a whole school literacy approach.
• Learn how to help students develop ways to improve oracy developing confidence that transpires into academic progress.
• Learn practical approaches to develop language, reading and writing skills in your school context.
• Recognise the key elements of pupils’ literacy journeys from Primary school into Secondary settings.
• Access research and materials and have many opportunities to discuss a variety of literacy approaches and models with other teachers.

What are the benefits for your school?

We know that our children and young people need teachers who are committed to their education and are confident learners themselves. Our NPQ programmes have been developed with teachers and leaders to:

• Create professionally confident teachers and leaders.
• Grow the next generation of leaders with the skills and knowledge to use the evidence-base for the benefit of their children and young people.
• Retain the best teachers who are excellent, collaborative role models for their schools and communities.
• Inspire leaders who can harness the power of rich learning environments for their children and young people no matter the current circumstances.

Is this programme for me?

Yes, if you are responsible for leading literacy across a year group, phase or school, or aspire to do so in the future. The programme is suitable for teachers in Primary and Secondary phases.

Please be aware that the NPQ programmes require a level of proficiency in the use of English equivalent to that of Master’s level study. In particular, participants are expected to demonstrate a high standard of language competency at summative assessment as this is a key requirement of an effective school leader.

A prospective participant who is not confident about their competency at this level is at risk of being unsuccessful due to the English language demands of the programme. UCL does not require participants to formally prove that they have this level of proficiency, but if you are in doubt about this then you should contact UCL prior to applying for a place on an NPQ programme. 

How long will it take?

Twelve months followed by an eight day open book summative case study task.

When will it start and how much will it cost?

The programme will start in November 2025. There will be an induction conference taking place in November/December 2025, which will be confirmed during the application process. Participants are required to attend the conference.

Scholarships may be available for this programme. 

The programme fee is £885 (+VAT) for participants and schools in England who are required to self-fund. This fee also applies to independent schools in England.

British International School Participants: Please follow the links to your preferred International Delivery Partner for fee information. 

Are scholarships available for this programme?

Information for scholarship funding can be found at GOV.UK. 

Programme route map

Route map (text version)

*Please note, NPQ Mentors will be asked to complete a short Programme Impact Report at the end of module 2 and 3 to gauge how engagement with the programme is supporting School / Improvement. This is separate from the Line Manager / Mentor Check-in which is more participant focused.

Runs over 12 months: Implementation Project: Work-based reflective learning, integrating research with practice and aligned to the EEF process model for school improvement (not assessed).

After 12 months: Final Summative Assessment. 

What do participants say?