Church of England to provide National Professional Qualification for school leadership in partnership with Catholic Church

The new National Professional Qualifications will provide training for teachers in different areas of school leadership, including senior leadership, headship and executive leadership as well as specialist areas of teaching. 

The Church of England NPQs will support up to 2500 teachers each year across the whole country.

Welcoming the announcement, The Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, the Church of England’s lead bishop for Education, said: "I'm delighted that the Government has demonstrated its confidence in our track record of leadership training.

"Through the Church of England's Foundation for Educational Leadership, we have a first class and innovative team who draw on the Church of England's Vision for Education to help leaders to develop and grow across different settings with a focus on the best possible outcomes for children and young people in every community."

The Church of England’s Chief Education Officer, Nigel Genders, said: “We are delighted that the Government has recognised the strengths of our shared vision for children and adults to flourish, and are enormously excited to be working together with the Catholic Education Service at a pivotal moment across the education sector.

“Whether teaching a mixed-age class in a small rural primary school, or leading a large MAT across a region or nation, our first call in educational leadership is to put teaching first.”

A full response from the Church of England's Chief Education Officer and the Head of the Catholic Education Service can be accessed below.