Department for Education NPQ Funding 

Our NPQs are free of charge
The DfE funds all Church of England NPQs for Teachers and leaders employed in state funded schools and state funded organisations including those that offer 16-19 places in England

The DfE may pay your school £800 for every NPQ participant**

*Primary schools with 150 or fewer pupils will receive £800 per member of staff participating in NPQs 

*State-funded secondary schools and state-funded 16-19 educational settings with one to 600 pupils will receive £200 for each member of staff participating in NPQs

Funding for NPQs

Teachers and leaders employed in state funded schools and state funded organisations including those that offer 16-19 places in England will be able to access a fully funded NPQ from Autumn 2021, to support teachers and pupils following the disruption to learning faced as a result of COVID-19.

Access to funding remains conditional on successful validation of participants’ registration information against Teaching Regulation Agency records, so you must ensure that the information supplied to your NPQ provider matches your teacher record. You can check and update your record via the Teaching Regulation Agency’ Teacher Self-Service Portal.

If you are not eligible for scholarship funding, you can still undertake an NPQ but either you or your school will need to pay for it. 

Funding for New Headteacher Additional Support Offer

The Early Headship Coaching Offer for New Headteachers (EHCO) (formerly known as the ASO) is a targeted package of support for Headteachers in their first five years of Headship. This is fully funded for all eligible participants (see eligibility criteria below)

Full scholarship funding for the Early Headship Coaching Offer, meaning no cost to the participant, is available for those from the groupings above who meet the following criteria:

• work in a state-funded school or state funded organisation including those that offer 16-19 places in England upon starting the training AND
• are in their first FIVE years of headship AND
• have not withdrawn from the additional support programme previously

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which NPQs are fully funded?

Each qualification in the updated NPQ suite will be fully funded if the applicant meets the eligibility criteria outlined.

2. Who is eligible for funding?

Teachers and leaders employed in state funded schools and state funded organisations including those that offer 16-19 places in England will be able to access a fully funded NPQ from Autumn 2021, to support teachers and pupils following the disruption to learning faced as a result of COVID-19.

Applicants who are not eligible for scholarship funding, will still be able to undertake an NPQ but will be invoiced. 

3. I have already registered to self-fund for an NPQ and am now eligible for funding, what happens?

For participants who have already registered for an NPQ on the DfE system, and are currently self-funding, there will be an automatic check against the new funding criteria. Where participants become eligible under the new criteria, funding status will be updated automatically and an email will be sent to inform participants they are now eligible for DfE NPQ scholarship funding. The relevant provider will be informed of this change, and those participants do not need to take any further action. 

4. Do you have a breakdown of what each programme costs?