Cuts to funding for national professional qualifications (NPQs) have prompted a sharp drop-off in take-up despite more schools raiding their own budgets to pay for them, new data shows.
Starts on NPQs – which are for staff who want to develop specialisms or leadership skills – fell from 43,840 in the 2023-24 academic year to 29,818 this year, a drop of 32 per cent.
However, the fall is even larger (56 per cent) if starts on the new NPQ for SENCos – which became compulsory this year – are excluded from the analysis.
It comes after the previous government scaled back funding for the qualifications, which had been free for several years as part of a £184 million Covid recovery plan.
Since last autumn, only teachers and leaders in the top half of schools with the most youngsters on pupil premium have been eligible for funded NPQs, apart from those for heads, SENCos and primary maths leaders, which remain free for all.
Data shows the number of funded NPQs dropped by 43 per cent, from 41,274 last year to 23,477 this year.
At the same time, the number funded by schools themselves rose by 168 per cent, from 2,266 to 6,063.
Compulsory SENCo NPQ sees 10,000 starts
The data shows there were 10,537 starts on the SENCo NPQ this year, the first year it has operated. The compulsory qualification is now the most popular out of the suite, followed by senior leadership, with 5,801 starts.
This week’s data also shows the completion rate of NPQs has also dropped. 84.3 per cent of NPQs started in 2021-22 were completed, falling to 81.4 per cent of those begun in 2022-23.
It comes after the government held a call for evidence to feed into a review of the frameworks for the NPQs in headship, senior leadership and executive leadership.
In an update published today, the DfE said it was “now working closely with the Education Endowment Foundation and other external experts to review the responses which will inform decision making when updating the frameworks.
“This first call for evidence was an evidence gathering exercise and is one part of this review process. The department is openly engaging in multiple forums to ensure that a wide range of views are considered when reviewing and updating the NPQ suite.”
The department “will publish further details on the call for evidence for the remaining specialist NPQs in autumn/winter 2025”.
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