NPQ Funding

November 2025 cohort

Scholarship funding

Scholarship funding is available for all teachers and leaders in publicly funded schools (including maintained nursery schools) and 16 to 19 educational settings in England for the following NPQs:

Funding for these courses is also available to:

Schools eligible for targeted regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) intervention
Hospital schools
Young offender institutions
Local authority virtual school headteachers, staff in a defined deputy headteacher role and staff in direct teaching roles
Other local authority staff in direct teaching roles – for example, local authority supply or peripatetic teachers

Scholarship funding is also available for the following NPQs based on disadvantage criteria:

For these  NPQs, scholarship funding to cover the full  NPQ  course cost will be available to teachers and leaders from eligible schools and 16 to 19 settings that have high levels of disadvantage.

For the  NPQ in early years leadership, highly disadvantaged early years settings and maintained nursery schools will also be eligible.

For the  NPQ in leading teacher development, scholarship funding is also available if you’re taking on the role of lead mentor for an initial teacher training (ITT) provider accredited to deliver ITT from September 2024.

To be eligible, your school or setting must be on one of the disadvantage eligibility lists.

Eligibility lists

Details of eligibility lists based on disadvantage are set out as follows.

Schools

The top 50% of publicly funded schools that have the highest proportion of students attracting pupil premium. This does not include maintained nursery schools.

Further education

The top 50% of 16 to 19 settings where the highest proportion of funded students attracting a disadvantage uplift. This is based on a combination of disadvantage block 1 and block 2 funding.

Early years

The top 50% of early years settings where the highest proportion of children get early years pupil premium or disadvantaged 2-year-old entitlement funding.

This includes private, voluntary, independent (PVI) settings, Ofsted-registered early years childminders and maintained nursery schools.

These settings are eligible for the early years leadership NPQ only.

Maintained nursery schools are also eligible for headship and SENCO NPQs regardless of disadvantage.

Schools eligible for targeted RISE intervention

This includes schools that:

were previously scheduled for structural intervention after 1 January 2025 but have since had this intervention revoked
are stuck schools – a stuck school is defined as a school that was graded Requires Improvement or equivalent at its most recent Ofsted inspection, and was also graded below Good at its previous inspection and is still within the same structure

The eligible settings are fixed for the autumn 2025 recruitment period.

Early headship coaching offer

For the early headship coaching offer, you can get funding to cover the course fees if you’re both:

in your first 5 years of headship in England in a state-funded school or 16 to 19 organisation
currently doing, or have completed, the NPQ for headship

Funding restrictions

You can only receive scholarship funding for each NPQ once.

If you receive scholarship funding but then withdraw from or fail a course, you cannot get scholarship funding for the same NPQ again.

Being eligible for an NPQ scholarship does not guarantee that:

the course is suitable for you
a funded course place will be available

NPQ providers determine suitability through their application processes.

The total amount of scholarship funding is limited, so some eligible teachers and leaders may not secure a funded place. Check with your provider before you register to see if a funded place is available.

NPQ providers manage applications for the courses they deliver and may prioritise applications according to the number of funded places they have available. For example, priority will be given to applications for the NPQ for SENCOs to those needing to take the NPQ as a mandatory qualification for their role as a SENCO.

Legacy NPQs

If you received scholarship funding for a legacy NPQ before November 2021 and withdrew from the programme, you’re still eligible for scholarship funding for the current NPQs.