NPQSL: National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership

Spring cohort 2025

Register your expression of interest for a National Professional Qualification (NPQ)

About the programme

• Why join UCL?
• What will you learn?
• What are the benefits for 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
• How to apply
• What do participants say?

Why join UCL?

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

Based on the latest research and evidence this new programme will enable you to take your new learning and develop your skills and put them into practice.

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?

• School Culture – you will strengthen your school culture through contributing to its strategic direction, managing resources and fulfilling the statutory duties to enable all pupils and teachers to thrive and succeed.
• Teaching – you will learn how to lead teachers at all levels in your school to develop their pedagogical knowledge and classroom skills to enable the best outcomes for all children and young people no matter what their starting point is.
• Curriculum and Assessment – you will learn how to support and improve high quality teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring high level support, planning and policy development for the teachers in your school. 
• Behaviour and Support – you will be able to contribute and implement the development of good models of behaviour and learning across the whole school community including liaising with and training key stakeholders to ensure a safe learning environment for all.
• Implementation – 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 for you?

Our participants have noted many benefits to studying for an NPQSL. Overall, they outline how the programme has given them professional confidence, time and space to reflect on themselves and 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 professional development initiatives successfully through a supported implementation project.
• Understand what level your skill set is at and recognise what this means for your career path.
• Develop your own leadership persona to become more visible to colleagues.
• Increase your understanding of your school’s structures and how they impact on the school’s learning environment.
• Recognise that change must go through stages and sub-stages and that it must be planned effectively at the outset.
• Access research and materials and have many opportunities to discuss a variety of professional development 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 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 are able to 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 across a school on whole school improvement or if you aspire to senior leadership.

How long will it take?

18 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 April 2025. There will be an induction conference taking place in May 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 £1,055 (+VAT) for schools and participants in England required to pay for the programme. The same fee applies to independent schools in England.

British International Schools: please follow the links to your preferred International Delivery Partner for fee information.

Are scholarships available for this programme?

Information for scholarship funding will be available soon.

Programme route map

*Please note, NPQ Mentors will be asked to complete a short School 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 18 months: Implementation Project: Work-based reflective learning, integrating research with practice and aligned to the EEF process model for school improvement (not assessed).

After 18 months: Final Summative Assessment (April 2026 / May 2026)

How to apply

The DfE registration platform will be closed for a period of time from Monday 4 November to allow for essential maintenance, but you can register an expression of interest to apply for a UCL NPQ.

What do participants say?