NPQ Funding

Scholarship funding - SENCO, SL, EYL, H

SENCO, Senior Leadership and Headship NPQs

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:

• Special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs)
• Senior Leadership
• Headship

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

Early Years Leadership

Scholarship funding is also available for the Early Years Leadership NPQ for publicly funded early years settings, schools and maintained nursery schools, including:

• private, voluntary, independent (PVI) settings
• Ofsted-registered early years childminders
• maintained nursery schools
• those working in publibly-funded early years education settings, including schools

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

• Leading teaching
• Leading teacher development
• Leading behaviour and culture
• Leading literacy
• Leading primary mathematics
• Executive leadership

Leading Teacher Development scholarship

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.

 

NPQ scholarships for settings with high levels of disadvantage

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. 

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

These eligibility lists have been drawn up from the top 50% of publicly funded schools that have the highest proportion of students attracting pupil premium. This does not include maintained nursery schools. It also includes 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.

RISE scholarship

Schools in the targeted regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) programme are eligible for scholarship funding for all NPQs. 

Regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE): school support provides further details on the targeted RISE programme and lists schools that are eligible for targeted RISE intervention

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.

Self-funded model

Staff at schools/settings that are not eligible for a DfE scholarship can still access the full suite of reformed NPQs through the self-funded model.

The cost of non-funded places is: