Ambition Institute has designed this ground-breaking new NPQ to help you learn the essential knowledge and skills to successfully lead high quality, literacy development and teaching in your school.

Ambition’s approach uses the latest research to help you put your learning into practice. You’ll train alongside other literacy leaders with similar responsibilities.

This is a new National Professional Qualification (NPQ) developed by the Department for Education (DfE). Each of the new NPQs share the same common language and framework to help drive improvement across schools and other educational settings.

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

Make a real difference

This programme will help you to offer all children in your school access to high-quality literacy in their education.

Excel at literacy leadership

Become a true champion of literacy. You’ll develop a thorough understanding of how you can improve literacy in your subject, phase and school, using the latest evidence-based research.

Build a network

You’ll have the opportunity to connect with other literacy leaders, sharing your experiences and building a strong support network.

Learn at your own pace

This programme is designed to fit with your busy teaching role and can be completed in bite-size chunks around your existing schedule.

Tailor your training

The programme allows you to apply theory to your school context.

Build brighter futures

By expertly championing literacy leadership in your school, you can make sure that every young person has the literacy skills to succeed across all curriculum areas.

Improve literacy at all levels

Participants will work on applying learning and improving literacy across your school and different subject areas – and support colleagues to do this too.

Create a ‘golden thread’

The new NPQs are all aligned. Your literacy leaders will benefit from an evidence-based framework with a common language which they can pass on to their colleagues.

Put knowledge into practice

This programme gives literacy leaders a comprehensive and accessible evidence base. This allows them to bridge the gap between what they know and how to apply it effectively in your school, to improve literacy and outcomes for pupils.

Invest in your leaders

By aligning staff professional development with wider school improvement priorities, you can make sure all pupils have access to high quality literacy support in their education.

This programme follows the Department for Education’s National Professional Qualification: Leading Literacy Framework.

You will:

• Learn how to support staff, of all subject specialisms, to develop pupils’ language and literacy skills
• Learn how pupils develop aspects of literacy, including:
  • understanding how children learn to talk, and how developing effective spoken language supports literacy development at every age and stage
  • understanding how children learn to become fluent readers and how teachers can help with this, from primary all the way through to secondary
  • exploring the importance of subject-specific vocabulary and different strategies to teaching this
  • knowing how to support pupils' writing – whether learning to write in primary school, through to writing academically at key stage five
• Learn how to support, develop and teach pupils literacy using evidence-informed approaches
• Learn how to lead literacy through curriculum, culture and motivation
• Understand how effective literacy education can support your school
• Contribute to effective professional development for literacy, linking it to teaching, the curriculum and assessment across the school.

Note: programme content is subject to change.

The assessment window starts at the end of the 12-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.

Exceed Teaching School Hub will offer a webinar and live clinic in advance of the assessment window to support participants.