NPQEYL

Ambition Institute has designed this ground-breaking new NPQ to help you develop your knowledge and understanding of what high-quality, early years education and care looks like.

Ambition’s ‘little and often’ approach uses the latest evidence to help you put your learning into practice in your early years setting. You’ll train alongside other early years leaders with similar responsibilities, focusing on developing your expertise to tackle the persistent problems you face in your role.

This is a new NPQ developed by the Department for Education. It was developed with an expert advisory group, and early years leaders, academics and experts. The programme sits alongside the NPQs for teachers and school leaders. Each of Ambition’s NPQs share the same common language and framework to help drive improvement across education.

With no project work and minimal time out of your early years' setting, this NPQ is designed to fit around your busy timetable.

Benefits for you

Thrive as a leader

This programme is designed specifically for leaders of early years education. Through evidence-based professional development, you’ll learn what great early years learning looks like and how to lead others and your setting. You’ll also look at what others can learn from you.

Close the gap

Evidence shows that high quality care and education in early years is fundamental for a child’s development, preparing them for school and later life*. We’ll help you to develop the knowledge to deliver this to the children you support.

Train to your timetable

This is a flexible programme, designed to fit around your existing work commitments. Most of the training can be completed at a time that suits you with minimal time spent away from your early years setting.

Connect with peers

You’ll train with people from early years settings, sharing your experiences and building a strong support network.

Tailor your training

The programme allows you to apply the theory to your early years’ setting.

*Sources:

Barnett, W. S. (1995). “Long-term effects of early childhood programs on cognitive and school outcomes”. The Future of Children, 25-50.

Heckman, J., Pinto, R. and Savelyev, P. (2013). “Understanding the mechanisms through which an influential early childhood program boosted adult outcomes”. American Economic Review 103(6), 2052-2086.

Benefits for your early years setting

Give young people the best start

Equipping your leaders with evidence-based training on what good education and care looks like will help to create a level playing field for children in the early stages of life.

Benefit from tailored training

This is the first NPQ that is designed specifically for early years practitioners. It will develop expertise that can be applied to identifying and addressing persistent and common challenges in early years leadership.

Invest in high-quality professional development

Participants will learn how to unpack and apply learning across all aspects of the early years – and support their colleagues to develop in these areas too.

Create a ‘golden thread’

The new NPQs are all aligned. Right from the start, your leaders will benefit from an evidence-based framework with a common language that they can pass onto colleagues.

Tap into a network

Your leaders will train alongside peers from other early years settings, supported by facilitators who fully understand their needs.

What you’ll learn
This programme follows the Department for Education’s National Professional Qualification: Early Years Leadership Framework.

You will learn how to:

• Set a strategic direction for your early years setting and apply ambitious standards for all children
• Champion evidence-based practice
• Plan and deliver care and a high-quality curriculum to support children’s development
• Establish communication, language and literacy approaches to support children’s learning
• Make sure all children experience success
• Identify children who need support and make appropriate referrals
• Create an environment for all children and colleagues where everyone feels welcome and safe.

Note: programme content is subject to change.

How you’ll learn

The programme is delivered through blended learning. This includes a mix of real-time interactive online sessions, face-to-face training, peer-led sessions and self-guided modules which you complete in your own time.

The assessment window starts at the end of the 18-month programme and runs for three months. During this time, participants will be given an eight-day window to sit an ‘open book’ style assessment in which they respond to a short case study.

There are two assessment windows every year, and participants can sit the assessment two times, if they need to.

You need to complete the course to qualify for the NPQ accreditation.

Ambition Institute will offer a webinar and live clinic in advance of the assessment window to support participants.

Scholarship funding for autumn 2025

Scholarship funding is available for 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)
• 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

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

• leading teaching
• leading behaviour and culture
• leading literacy
• leading primary mathematics
• senior leadership
• executive leadership
• early years leadership
• leading teacher development

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.

If a funded place is not available

If funded places are not available with your chosen NPQ provider, you can:

• contact another provider to enquire about funded places
• join your provider’s waiting list
• self-fund your course place

Find out more about providers and the NPQ courses they offer.

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.

To apply, you need to be an early years practitioner who is qualified to at least level three, with a full and relevant early years or teaching qualification.

You will be, or will be aspiring to be:

• A manager of a private, voluntary or independent early years setting
• A headteacher of a school-based or maintained early years setting
• An early years foundation stage leader in a state funded school

A childminder with leadership responsibilities.

Complete the form below and a member of the team will be in touch.