Funding for national professional qualifications (NPQs)
Funding for courses and schools to help teachers take NPQs for their professional development.
Applies to England
National professional qualifications (NPQs) are flexible professional development courses for teachers and leaders to improve skills, progress careers and deliver improved outcomes for schools.
You may be able to get your NPQ course fees paid for by the Department for Education (DfE). This is called scholarship funding. You do not need to apply for it.
When you register for an NPQ, DfE will tell you if you are eligible for funding.
Scholarship funding for autumn 2024
From autumn 2024, scholarship funding to cover the full NPQ course cost will be available to teachers and leaders from:
- the 50% of schools with the highest proportion of students who attract pupil premium funding
- 16 to 19 educational settings identified as having high disadvantage
For the early years leadership NPQ, highly disadvantaged early years settings will also be eligible.
Scholarships will continue to be available to all teachers and leaders from publicly funded schools and 16 to 19 educational organisations for the following NPQs:
- leading primary mathematics
- special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO)
- headship
Funding for these 3 NPQs is also available to:
- hospital schools
- young offender institutions
- staff working in local authority virtual schools (local-authority-run organisations that support the education of children in care)
- other local authority staff with a responsibility to deliver curriculum content (for example, local authority supply or peripatetic teachers)
Leading teacher development NPQ
For the leading teacher development NPQ, scholarship funding is available for people who are, or will be, taking on the role of lead mentor for an initial teacher training provider accredited to deliver initial teacher training from September 2024.
Early headship coaching offer
For the early headship coaching offer, funding to cover the course fees will be available if you are in your first 5 years of headship in England in a state-funded school or state-funded 16 to 19 organisation. You should also be doing or have done the headship NPQ.
Check if your setting is eligible for scholarship funding
For the following NPQs, you will only be eligible for scholarship funding if your setting is on one of the eligible settings lists:
- leading teacher development
- leading teaching
- leading behaviour and culture
- leading literacy
- senior leadership
- executive leadership
- early years leadership
Use the following lists to check which settings are eligible for scholarship funding. These lists are fixed for the autumn 2024 recruitment period. Scholarship criteria for the next cohort will be confirmed in due course.
Schools
identified as being in the top 50% of publicly funded schools that have the highest proportion of students attracting pupil premium.
Further education
identified as being in the top 50% of publicly funded further education settings who have:
- the highest proportion of students attracting an uplift
- low attainment in maths or English at the end of Year 11
Early years
identified as being in the top 50% of settings who have the highest proportion of children attracting:
- early years pupil premium
- disadvantaged 2-year-old entitlement funding
Ofsted-registered childminders are included in early years settings. The early years list should be read alongside the high-disadvantage schools and high-disadvantage 16 to 19 settings to determine eligibility.
If you’re from an early years setting with an Ofsted unique reference number (URN) and believe you qualify for scholarship funding but do not see your setting on the list, email us at: enquiries.npq@education.gov.uk. Include the name of your setting and Ofsted URN in your message.
Check if you are eligible for the course
You should check the course eligibility criteria with your chosen course provider before you register. You may meet the funding criteria but not the course eligibility requirements.
You can find out how to check the eligibility of your setting for autumn 2024 when registration opens later this year.
Learn about NPQs and the early headship coaching offer.
Funding restrictions
You can only receive scholarship funding for each NPQ once.
If you receive scholarship funding but then withdraw from or fail your programme, you cannot receive scholarship funding for the same NPQ again.
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.
Last updated 12 June 2024 + show all updates
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Updated information about funding for autumn 2024 and added a 'Settings eligible for scholarship funding' section.
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Updated with details of scholarship funding for autumn 2024.
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First published.