NPQ for Early Years Leadership
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 and nurseries. 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.
- Overview
- Who's it for?
- Why study at the NIoT?
- What you'll learn
- How you'll learn
- Time commitment
- Location
- Assessment
- How to apply
- Funding
- Our Other Leadership NPQs
Overview
As you know, and as a wealth of research supports, there is no time more critical in a child’s life than their early years. As the leader of an Early Years provision, you have the ability to shape their experience, contribute to developing their personal wellbeing and sense of security, and prime them to be ready to learn in a school environment.
Through the NPQEYL, you will develop your knowledge of how children learn and develop, hear from colleagues who have proven track records in working with very young children and babies, as well as visiting exemplary settings to learn more about how leaders have created the environment and learning space for children to thrive. You will benefit from actionable take-aways you can use immediately in your setting, as well as preparing for your future career development.
Who's it for?
This course is for leaders qualified to at least level 3 or equivalent with a full and relevant qualification who are, or want to be:
- managers of private, voluntary and independent nurseries
- headteachers or leaders of school-based or maintained nurseries
- childminders with leadership responsibilities
- other early years foundation stage leaders, such as reception class teachers or early years co-ordinators
If you work in a school, discuss with your headteacher or provider which NPQ best meets your need.
Why study at the NIoT?
The National Institute of Teaching was founded by four leading multi-academy trusts. Our programmes are underpinned by leading research and driven by what we have found works best in schools. Through our programmes, we aim to ensure participants develop their leadership to ensure their hard work and dedication has the maximum impact on pupils.
Our programmes are school-led: they are delivered by individuals who work in schools and nurseries, right now. That means they have the in-depth, domain-specific knowledge to help you grapple with content at the right level, and to support you to problem-solve and apply learning to your own context.
Our programmes are centred on impact: our aim is for your practice to improve and develop in your current context, and for you to be ready and to take the next step in your career as a result of learning with us. We have designed our programmes carefully, and work closely with school leaders through our regional structures, as well as working with participants, to ensure our programmes are impactful in your context.
Our programmes are respectful of your time: we know you spend most of your time doing the most important job there is – serving the children in your community. That’s why our programmes are designed to be flexible, to deliver exactly what you need in the most time-efficient manner possible, and to have impact.
Our programmes are rooted in research: every aspect of what you learn is based on the best available research as well as what we have seen and experienced to work best in our founding multi-academy trusts and associate colleges.
Our programmes allow you to build a community: our in-person local seminars are focused on peer learning and problem solving together. As well as applying your learning to your own context, you will have the opportunity to build your network and support one another’s development beyond your time learning with the NIoT.
What you'll learn
- How to establish and sustain your nursery’s strategic direction
- How to embed an excellent culture in your nursery
- How to develop a high-quality curriculum which supports the development of very young children, including their language development, communication and literacy
- How to support children’s behaviour and social and emotional development in your setting
- How to monitor the progress children are making in your setting, and how to ensure all pupils’ needs are met without creating unnecessary workload
- How to develop your colleagues’ practice
- How to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders
- All the critical operational aspects of running a nursery, including safeguarding, admissions, risk management, HR and finance
How you'll learn
Local seminars: extend your learning with an expert, school or nursery leader facilitator, build your network and apply your learning to your own context.
Virtual school visits: visit some of the country’s leading schools and nurseries, learning about how they have developed and improved their practice over time to deliver exceptional outcomes and experiences for very young children.
Online masterclasses: hear school and nursery-based sector experts sharing best practice from their context and experience.
Online group coaching: apply your learning to scenarios and to your own context, with the feedback and guidance of an expert school or nursery-based coach.
Online self-studies: learn cutting-edge research and how it is being applied successfully in schools.
Time commitment
There are three or four scheduled events every half term, some online and some in-person. There are also around six hours of self study.
Location
Our NPQs are available nationally and, depending on the cohort, are likely to be held virtually with several peer meet-ups.
You can contact [email protected] to find out your nearest National Institute of Teaching delivery school or centre.
Assessment
In order to receive NPQEYL accreditation, participants will need to complete the programme and achieve a pass mark in a written, ‘open book’ style, structured assessment of up to 2,000 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.
How to apply
Applications are now closed for the April 2025 cohort. Register your interest for our next round of NPQs to get information directly to your inbox.
Funding
For the April 2025 cohort, funding was available to schools with the...
- top 50% of publicly funded schools that have the highest proportion of students attracting pupil premium.
- top 50% for proportion of funded students attracting a disadvantage uplift.
- top 50% of settings that have the highest proportion of children attracting early years pupil premium and disadvantaged 2 year old entitlement funding.
Ofsted-registered childminders were included in early years settings.
Find out more about funding and eligibility criteria here.
Our Other Leadership NPQs
We offer a whole host of other NPQs from subject specialisms to leadership skills. Take a look at the other related NPQs we offer:
Contact us
Please get in touch to find out more about our programmes and find out where we are delivering them near you.