NPQ Leading Literacy

National Professional Qualification in Leading Literacy

DRET Teaching School Hub work in partnership with the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) as an Associate College to deliver NPQ Programmes.

The NPQ for Leading Literacy is designed for teachers and leaders or aspiring leaders of literacy.

NPQs at the National Institute of Teaching are school-led: our organisation was founded by four leading multi-academy trusts, and our programmes are designed and delivered with a focus on the realities of schools. Because teachers’ time is precious, our programmes are respectful of your time, and designed to have immediate impact on the pupils and colleagues in your school, as well as the colleagues and children you will work with in the future.

 

Benefits

 

• Essential knowledge: There is no fluff – every minute spent working towards an NPQLL will enable you to make a greater impact in your job.
• Research-informed practice: You’ll have access to the latest and best evidence of what works in education, and will be able to apply this to developing pupils’ language and vocabulary.
• Create a reading culture: You’ll learn how to build a school culture that encourages reading for pleasure.
• Joined-up learning: The techniques you learn will support the teaching of synthetic phonics and joined-up handwriting.
• Community of educators: You’ll be part of a diverse community of educators, all learning from one another during the course – and potentially afterwards, too.
• Fulfilment: The better and more knowledgeable you are at your job, the more enjoyable and exciting you will find it – and that enthusiasm will be passed on to your pupils.

Curriculum

What you'll learn:

• How to contribute to designing and delivering professional development that enables colleagues to:
• Develop pupils’ language capability and wider understanding of language
• Develop pupils’ reading and comprehension
• Improve pupils’ writing
• How to champion reading across your school
• How to assess pupils’ literacy abilities in a reliable and valid way that informs future planning

How you'll learn: 

Local seminars: extend your learning with an expert, school leader facilitator, build your network and apply your learning to your own context.

Virtual school visits: visit some of the country’s leading schools, learning about how they have developed and improved their practice over time to deliver exceptional outcomes and experiences for young people.

Online masterclasses: hear school-based sector experts sharing best practice from their context and experience.

Online self-studies: learn cutting-edge research and how it is being applied successfully in schools.

Implementation advisor: structured conversations with an identified in-school advisor to support implementation of learning in context.

 Time commitment:

 On average, participants will spend between one and two hours a week working towards the NPQLL. Where possible, study should be done in dedicated career-development time during school hours.

Assessment

In order to receive NPQLL accreditation, participants will need to complete the programme and achieve a pass mark in a written, ‘open book’ style, structured assessment of up to 1,500 words.

We will support participants with writing clinics before they embark on gaining their accreditation.

The assessment itself takes place over an eight-day window. There are two assessment windows per year and participants have two opportunities to take part.  

Funding

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, the DfE will tell you if you are eligible for funding. You can find further funding information here.

 

Apply

To apply, you must be leading, or aspiring to lead, literacy in any phase of education.

For example, you might be a head of literacy or literacy coordinator at your school or multi-academy trust.

 Application information for academic year 2026/2027 will be published in summer 2026.

 You can register your interest here and we will be in touch once the application window opens.