Scholarships for four of the six new national professional qualifications (NPQs) will be limited only to staff in the most deprived schools, the Department for Education has announced.
The reformed NPQs for experienced teachers and school leaders will launch in the autumn term, as part of a range of changes to school staff training and development.
As part of its education recovery package, the government announced in June that £184 million would be allocated to support the new NPQs over the course of this Parliament.
The Department for Education today confirmed how the money will be spent on fully-funded scholarships for eligible applicants in certain schools.
For the NPQs in leading behaviour and culture, leading teaching, senior leadership and executive leadership, full scholarship funding will only be available to those working in state-funded schools in England “within the top 30th percentile in relation to pupils on pupil premium as of the end of the previous academic year”.
For the NPQ in headship, applicants who are aspiring leaders will also have to satisfy the 30th percentile rule, but those in their first 24 months of state school headship will not.
The scholarship for the NPQ in leading teacher development is available to all those working in or aspiring to eligible roles in state-funded schools.
The DfE said it would “shortly publish a list of schools that are within the top 30th percentile in relation to pupils on pupil premium as of the end of the previous academic year to enable people to check their eligibility”.
But Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said it was “regrettable” that funding for some roles were restricted to those in certain schools.
He said the number of NPQs that can be delivered next year was also “severely constrained” by the number of providers approved to deliver them.
The DfE announced earlier this year that the Ambition Institute, Best Practice Network, Church of England, Education Development Trust, Harris Federation, Leadership Learning South East, Teacher Development Trust, Teach First, UCL Institute of Education were the nine approved partners.
“Government need to take a more permissive approach to encourage other high quality providers into the market, and ensure that schools have the funding to match, to reach far more teachers and leaders.”
NPQs scholarship eligibility criteria
Leading Teacher Development
Available to all teachers who…
- have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading the development of other teachers in their school
- work in a state-funded school in England
Leading Behaviour and Culture
Available to all teachers who…
- have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading behaviour and/or supporting pupil wellbeing in their school
- work in a state-funded school in England that is within the top 30th percentile in relation to pupils on pupil premium as of the end of the previous academic year
Leading Teaching
Available to all teachers who…
- have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage or phase
- work in a state-funded school in England that is within the top 30th percentile in relation to pupils on pupil premium as of the end of the previous academic year
Senior Leadership
Available to those who meet the following criteria…
- are, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities
- work in a state-funded school in England that is within the top 30th percentile in relation to pupils on Pupil Premium as of the end of the previous academic year
Headship
Available for those who meet the following criteria
- are, or are aspiring to be, a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school
- work in a state-funded school in England that is within the top 30th percentile in relation to pupils on Pupil Premium as of the end of the previous academic year
OR: - are a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school
- are in the first 24 months of headship
- work in a state-funded school in England
Executive Leadership
Available to those who meet the following criteria…
- are, or are aspiring to be, an executive headteacher or have a school trust CEO role with responsibility for leading several schools
- work in a state-funded school in England that is within the top 30th percentile in relation to pupils on pupil premium as of the end of the previous academic year
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