D.
Advice to Appointment Panels National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH)
From April 2004 it became mandatory for all first-time headteachers appointed to a post in the maintained sector to hold NPQH. Until March 2009 there is a transitional arrangement allowing those with a place on the programme to be appointed to a first headship. Where a candidate for headship has not completed or been accepted onto a course for the NPQH they may not be shortlisted for headship interview. From April 2009 only those who have successfully completed the NPQH will be able to be appointed to their first substantive headship position. Notes: If a candidate has not applied for the NPQH course they may not be shortlisted. If a candidate has applied for an NPQH place they must ensure that the offer is or can be confirmed before the interview date and a panel may ask to see the letter. Any offer of shortlisting must be subject to this requirement being fulfilled; otherwise the candidate will not be interviewed. There have been exceptional cases where the offer of an appointment to a candidate without NPQH (or acceptance on the course) has been ratified by the NCSL. However, these instances have mainly been where a school has unexpectedly lost a head, and, typically, a good deputy who had not previously considered headship has been prevailed upon to step up to fill the post (presumably when there was a dearth of other good applicants). In addition, in these cases the candidate will usually have applied to NCSL, and the decision by the NCSL has been whether to fast-track the application in the exceptional circumstance. There is separate guidance on the National Professional Qualification for Integrated Centre Leaders (NPQICL) – see below