NPQH Final Assessment
Guidance for Trainee Headteachers
Contents
Page
Overview of the Final Assessment Process
2
NPQH competency framework
3
Award of NPQH
5
Task 1 Leading a School Improvement Priority
5
Task 2 Leading school improvement working in partnership
with the Placement School
12
Task 3
Practical knowledge and expertise demonstrated
in test environments:
case study and presentation/interview
Appendix 1 NPQH Competency Framework
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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25
1
Overview of the Final Assessment Process
Graduation from NPQH will demonstrate your ability to be an effective headteacher
and that you are ready to take up your first headship. The NPQH Final Assessment
process has therefore been designed to provide opportunities for you to demonstrate
your leadership in practice through the successful completion of school improvement
work undertaken your own and in other schools, as well as your capacity to perform
well in presenting, at interview and in making decisions in test environments.
As for the Gateway Assessment, NPQH Final Assessment is competency based,
testing the key competencies that are required for successful headship. The
assessment process will therefore enable you to demonstrate the progress you have
made since the Gateway stage. Full details of the competencies tested are given
below.
The Final Assessment comprises three tasks:
Task 1 You will undertake a task in your school (or agreed school setting if
not based in school) in which you lead for an extended period on an actual
school improvement priority.
Task 2 You will undertake a task working in partnership with your placement
school in which you lead for a short period on an actual school improvement
priority working closely with placement school staff and the school leadership.
You will also, over the whole period of the placement, develop a relationship
with the placement school to enable you to extend your own learning about
school leadership and to improve your leadership.
Task 3 This task comprises two elements in test environments:
Firstly, you will undertake a case study assessment that will cover:
 Leading school financial management
 Leading teacher appraisal
You will need to demonstrate you are able to manage these key aspects of a
school that you may not have been able to take full leadership of while on
NPQH and show you are able to make appropriate decisions and justify your
actions.
Secondly, you will attend a presentation/interview. You will make a
presentation to a panel and answer questions put by the panel on the content
of your presentation and your progress towards successful headship through
NPQH. You will need to be able to show you have developed the competence
to present in a credible way as a headteacher. You should also be prepared
to demonstrate how you have used your NPQH experiences to reflect upon
and improve your own leadership competencies to a level that shows your
readiness to take up your first headship.
The school-based work undertaken in Tasks 1 and 2 will need to be achievable
within a 12 month period, to relate to the schools’ improvement priorities and must
produce demonstrable positive impact and sustainable change.
For all aspects of the assessment you will be expected to draw upon your practical
experience, research and school evidence to inform your leadership decision making.
You will also be expected to apply your learning from the essential and elective
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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modules you have completed and to draw upon your knowledge and expertise in key
national policy priorities, for example, leading and improving the quality of teaching
and pupils’ behaviour, teacher appraisal and financial management.
The assessment tasks can also be used towards CATS points if required.
NPQH competency framework
NPQH is underpinned by a competency framework of 16 competencies. These
competencies define the characteristics that are needed to be ready for headship. In
preparing for your development and Final assessment it is important that you read
and understand the competencies in the NPQH Competency framework – there is a
description of each competency and a statement as to ‘Why it matters’ for each of
them in Appendix 1.
The competencies include characteristics that are needed to be ready for headship,
including knowledge (including specific technical knowledge), skills, motives and
ability which are expressed in actions or behaviours:




Knowledge is what a person knows about a particular area, for example,
strategies for improving teaching and learning, ways of managing financial
and human resources, and project management for planning and
implementing change, performance management and legal issues relating to
employment or child protection.
Skills are things a person knows how to do well to achieve a goal, for
example, collecting and analysing data, monitoring progress, using new
technologies, planning, communicating, getting community feedback and
carrying out accurate self-assessment.
Motives may be expressed in a person’s values such as what he/she believes
in or what he/she believes it is important to do (for example, commitment to
the pursuit of excellence, working in a collaborative way, insisting on a safe
and healthy working environment or through preferences (such as
achievement or affiliation), for example, a person with a strong achievement
motive will continuously want to achieve and make things better.
Ability covers both a person’s ability to think and act rationally and to use
their emotional intelligence, for example, identifying trends in performance,
using school self-review to make sound decisions, and the ability to build
effective teams. Ability can be affected through the working of the emotions
and changed through self-awareness and self-management of these.
The 16 competencies in the framework are grouped into three areas that reflect key
dimensions of highly effective leadership, as demonstrated through research
evidence:
Strategic leadership: highly effective school leaders have a strong sense of
direction: they have a vision for the school and a clear sense of how to achieve their
vision. They can lead successfully in a highly autonomous and accountable system.
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Educational excellence: highly effective school leaders have the leadership of
teaching at the heart of their work: they can lead effectively in a self-improving
system to deliver high-quality outcomes for all pupils and students.
Operational management: highly effective heads have very effective systems and
processes that are consistently applied by all staff: they manage the school to ensure
efficient and effective use of all resources and achieve a fit-for-purpose organisation.
Figure 1: Three areas of competency
Strategic leadership
Educational excellence
Self-awareness and selfmanagement
Delivering continuous
improvement
Efficient and effective
Personal drive and
accountability
Modelling excellence in
teaching
Analytical thinking
Resilience and emotional
maturity
Learning focus
Conceptual thinking
Future focus
Impact and influence
Partnership and
collaboration
Organisational and
community understanding
Operational
management
Relationship management
Holding others to account
Developing others
Not all of the 16 competencies will be directly tested in the Final Assessment
process; there will be a focus upon assessing the following nine leadership
competencies.
Figure 2: Competencies tested at Final Assessment
Strategic leadership
Personal drive and accountability
Strategic leadership
Resilience and emotional maturity
Strategic leadership
Impact and Influence
Educational excellence
Delivering continuous improvement
Educational excellence
Modelling excellence in teaching
Educational excellence
Learning focus
Educational excellence
Partnership and collaboration
Operational management
Efficient and Effective
Operational management
Holding others to account
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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The descriptions of these nine leadership competencies can be found in Appendix 1
but there will be further guidance in the sections that follow on the three tasks on
the specific competencies that will be tested and how you will be able to develop
these and then demonstrate them when presenting for Final Assessment.
Award of NPQH
The award of NPQH will depend upon reaching a high standard in all of the eight
leadership competencies tested. Each of the tasks will contribute to a single
judgement on your readiness for headship and the award of NPQH and
therefore you will not receive individual test results and feedback. You will
receive some overall feedback at the end of the process.
However, if in any task you not reach the required standard you will be advised of
this and given the opportunity to take the task again and if you do not reach the
highest possible standard in any of the competencies you will be advised of this to
enable you to plan further development and to prepare for the
presentation/interview element of Task 3.
Task 1 Leading a School Improvement Priority in own (or agreed) school
This element of the final assessment will enable you to demonstrate that you can
deliver successful and sustainable school improvement in your school setting (or
agreed school setting if not based in school) and that you can use the experience to
reflect upon and improve your own leadership competencies.
This task will test six leadership competencies:
Figure 3: competencies tested in Task 1
Strategic leadership
Personal drive and accountability
Strategic leadership
Resilience and emotional maturity
Educational excellence
Delivering continuous improvement
Educational excellence
Modelling excellence in teaching
Educational excellence
Learning focus
Operational management
Holding others to account
The descriptions of the six leadership competencies tested can be found in Appendix
1.
Key elements of the task:

You are required to lead for an extended period (a minimum of two terms)
on an actual whole school improvement priority
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
The school improvement priority selected should be in the school
improvement plan or similar whole school plan. The task should be
strategic and positively impact on the whole school

The school improvement priority selected should be one that is sufficiently
challenging to firstly enable you to develop and secondly to provide
evidence of the competencies relating to Educational excellence and
Strategic leadership being tested in this task(see below for further specific
guidance)

The task should enable you to develop and implement a strategic plan,
taking actions which involve leading and holding to account other
school leaders and staff, and being accountable to stakeholders,
including governors or equivalent

The task needs to be completed within a twelve month period and must be
sufficiently advanced by the time of submission for you to demonstrate
sustainable improvement – you will need to evaluate the outcomes from your
leadership and provide quantified evidence of your personal impact
including the positive difference your work has had in the school and on
meeting its goals and of systems/structures in place to sustain the
change and/or of specific proposals for further action to be include
in the school improvement plan or equivalent

You will need to show how you used:
o research and school evidence
o learning from the essential and elective modules
o knowledge and expertise in key national policy priorities
to inform your leadership decision making, and provide evidence of
your development as a school leader (see below for further specific
guidance).
Specific guidance on providing competency-based evidence on leading a
school improvement priority and developing as a school leader
You should begin by reading the descriptions of the six leadership competencies to
be tested in Appendix 1.
Undertaking the task should enable your further development in Educational
excellence and you should be able to demonstrate in your submission for
assessment:
o Delivering continuous improvement including involving and inspiring
governors and stakeholders to support the school vision for the school
improvement priority and in strategically planning for its delivery,
determining and evaluating innovative strategies for action to improve
teaching and learning and/or the curriculum in the context of the school’s
performance using relevant data and information (including research,
learning from essential and elective modules and expertise in key national
policy areas), setting suitably ambitious targets and success criteria, and
working with leaders, staff, governors (or equivalent) and other
stakeholders on delivery
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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o
o
o
Modelling excellence in teaching, including your understanding of
the characteristics of excellent/outstanding teaching and the theories
and research on effecting teaching and learning, your capacity to
articulate your expectations of teaching and learning and to identify
strategies to improve these that are critical to the success of the task,
your ability to recognise and use good leadership in teaching and
learning in delivering your strategies and to share your knowledge and
expertise in teaching and learning to embed good practice,
systematically monitoring the impact of your work throughout the task
and evaluating its impact on teaching
Learning focus, including sharing your passion for improving
learning and your capacity to develop staff and to embed a culture of
learning for all members of the school community through your
leadership of professional development in relation to the task,
addressing diversity issues or barriers to learning which are critical to
the success of the task such as high standards of attendance,
punctuality and behaviour and/or issues faced by pupils and parents
in and outside of the school, and systematically monitoring the impact
of your work throughout the task and evaluating its impact on
learning of individuals and groups of pupils
Holding others to account including creating levels of
accountability within the school and ensuring all understand their roles
and responsibilities, standards required and accountabilities,
distributing leadership and delegating effectively, demanding high
performance through making expectations clear and spelling out the
consequences of non-compliance, using the performance
management (teacher appraisal) systems effectively to set objectives
and targets to deliver school priorities, systematically monitoring
performance and progress against objectives and targets, praising
success and giving constructive feedback but also taking swift action
when performance levels drop
Undertaking the task should enable your development in Strategic leadership and
you should be able to demonstrate in your submission for assessment:
o Personal drive and accountability, including being results orientated
through setting goals on what you want to achieve for yourself and the
school in relation to the task, being self-motivated, energetic and decisive
in taking responsibility for achieving these goals and adopting a high
personal profile while leading on the task, using the experience of leading
the task to enhance your own and others’ effectiveness and motivating
others to achieve results, regularly measuring progress towards both
personal and school goals and evaluating the outcomes and impact of
your work, accounting for your own and school performance to governors
or equivalent, and to other stakeholders on the successful delivery of
sustainable change
o Resilience and emotional maturity, including being resilient and
tenacious to achieve the task and secure sustainable improvement within
the time allowed, remaining optimistic and focused upon the task when
under pressure or when faced with resistance to change, addressing
difficult situations and resolving any conflict in a restrained way,
responding positively and with resolve if faced with personal criticism or
setbacks, speaking and acting in accordance with school values when it is
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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necessary to implement decisions that others find challenging and being
able to bring the task to a conclusion even in changing situations
Undertaking the task should enable your development in Operational
management and you should be able to demonstrate in your submission for
assessment:
Specific guidance on the submission of evidence
The submission to the Assessment Panel will be in two parts:


Your submission to the Assessment Panel
Your sponsor’s submission to the Assessment Panel – based on both
observation of your leadership of the school improvement priority and your
submission to the Assessment Panel.
Your submission to the Assessment Panel
You are able to choose what you submit and the form your submission takes, subject
to the limitations set out below. Your submission should comprise actual school
documents but unless these documents are comprehensive and self-explanatory you
will also need to include a short commentary to explain how you demonstrated the
leadership competencies being tested through your leadership of the priority for
school improvement.
You should ensure that your documentation covers:
 The nature of the school improvement priority
 Your leadership of the strategic planning process and setting of personal and
school goals and targets
 Your leadership to implement the strategic plan, including actions taken and
how you led and held to account other school leaders and staff and overcame
challenges and difficulties
 Your monitoring and evaluation of the school improvement priority and of
progress towards meeting your personal goals
 Your accountability to stakeholders for the outcomes of your leadership of the
priority
 Your evaluation of outcomes for the school: quantified evidence of your
personal impact in the school and on meeting its goals and of
systems/structures in place to sustain the change and/or of specific proposals
for further action to be include in the school improvement plan or equivalent
 Your evaluation of personal outcomes: development of your leadership
competencies and of ability to apply learning from the essential and elective
modules and expertise in key national policy areas
 Reflects the guidance given above on the ’Key elements of the task’
and ‘Providing competency-based evidence on leading a school
improvement priority and developing as a school leader’.
Documentation
When submitting the actual school documents that provide competency-based
evidence of your leadership and leadership development and the explanatory
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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commentary, if you wish to include this, you must not exceed 12 pages of A4 in
font size 12 and these must be capable of being read and understood
within 30 minutes reading time.
Actual





school documents could include, for example:
Extract from school improvement plan or equivalent for the priority
Outline of staff development led by you
Extract from policy document(s) produced under your leadership
Extract from reports to SLT and/or governing body or equivalent
Quantified analysis of outcomes /positive impact prepared for use in school.
The sponsor’s submission to the Assessment Panel will be an evaluation of
your leadership of the school improvement priority and this will be based upon both
their observation of your leadership of the strategy in the school and their reading of
your submission for the Assessment Panel.
A form (to be presented in landscape for ease of completion) with accompanying
guidance will be provided to make this process as straightforward as possible for the
sponsor. Sponsors will be asked to verify the evidence you submit and give their own
assessment of your leadership of the school improvement priority and the outcomes
for the school, and of your leadership development. Sponsors will be provided with
descriptions of the competencies being tested and the guidance you have been given
on undertaking the task.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Figure 4: NPQH Task 1 Leading a School improvement Priority
Sponsor’s submission to the Assessment Panel
Name of trainee headteacher…………………………………..
As Sponsor, you are asked to verify the evidence provided by the trainee headteacher and to give your
own assessment of their leadership of the school improvement priority. Please read the descriptions of
the competencies supplied as well as the statements set out below and comment on key aspects of
their development in the six leadership competencies. Please also provide quantified evidence of the
outcomes and the positive impact of their leadership in the school, where possible (column 2).
Then award the most appropriate grade (column 3) from the scale set out below to reflect the extent to
which they have used the opportunity of leading the school improvement priority to consolidate their
learning from the essential and elective NPQH modules, from research and school evidence, and from
knowledge and expertise in key national policy priorities and the degree of progress they have made in
developing the leadership competency:
Very good: trainee headteacher made full use of the opportunities for development and made
outstanding progress in leadership development
Good: trainee headteacher made use of many opportunities for development and made
significant progress in leadership development
Moderate: trainee headteacher made some use of the opportunities for development and
made some progress in leadership development
Poor: trainee headteacher made limited use of the opportunities for development and limited
progress
Leadership competency
Verification and additional
Grade
evidence
Awarded:
Very good,
good,
moderate,
poor
Delivering
continuous
improvement
including involving and inspiring governors and
stakeholders to support the school vision for the
school improvement priority and in strategically
planning for its delivery, determining and
evaluating innovative strategies for action to
improve teaching and learning and/or the
curriculum in the context of the school’s
performance
using
relevant
data
and
information (including research, learning from
essential and elective modules and expertise in
key national policy areas), setting suitably
ambitious targets and success criteria, and
working with leaders, staff, governors (or
equivalent) and other stakeholders on delivery
Modelling excellence in teaching, including
your understanding of the characteristics of
excellent/outstanding teaching and the theories
and research on effecting teaching and
learning, your capacity to articulate your
expectations of teaching and learning and to
identify strategies to improve these that are
critical to the success of the task, your ability to
recognise and use good leadership in teaching
and learning in delivering your strategies and to
share your knowledge and expertise in teaching
and learning to embed good practice,
systematically monitoring the impact of your
work throughout the task and evaluating its
impact on teaching
Learning focus, including sharing your passion
for improving learning and your capacity to
develop staff and to embed a culture of learning
for all members of the school community
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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through your leadership of professional
development in relation to the task, addressing
diversity issues or barriers to learning which are
critical to the success of the task such as high
standards of attendance, punctuality and
behaviour and/or issues faced by pupils and
parents in and outside of the school, and
systematically monitoring the impact of your
work throughout the task and evaluating its
impact on learning of individuals and groups of
pupils
Personal drive and accountability, including
being results orientated through setting goals
on what you want to achieve for yourself and
the school in relation to the task, being selfmotivated, energetic and decisive in taking
responsibility for achieving these goals and
adopting a high personal profile while leading
on the task, using the experience of leading the
task to enhance your own and others’
effectiveness and motivating others to achieve
results, regularly measuring progress towards
both personal and school goals and evaluating
the outcomes and impact of your work,
accounting for your own and school
performance to governors or equivalent, and to
other stakeholders on the successful delivery of
sustainable change
Resilience
and
emotional
maturity,
including being resilient and tenacious to
achieve the task and secure sustainable
improvement within the time allowed, remaining
optimistic and focused upon the task when
under pressure or when faced with resistance to
change, addressing difficult situations and
resolving any conflict in a restrained way,
responding positively and with resolve if faced
with personal criticism or setbacks, speaking
and acting in accordance with school values
when it is necessary to implement decisions
that others find challenging and being able to
bring the task to a conclusion even in changing
situations
Holding others to account including creating
levels of accountability within the school and
ensuring all understand their roles and
responsibilities, standards required and
accountabilities, distributing leadership and
delegating effectively, demanding high
performance through making expectations clear
and spelling out the consequences of noncompliance, using the performance
management (teacher appraisal) systems
effectively to set objectives and targets to
deliver school priorities, systematically
monitoring performance and progress against
objectives and targets, praising success and
giving constructive feedback but also taking
swift action when performance levels drop
Sponsor’s signature……………………………… Date…………………………..
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Task 2 Leading school improvement working in partnership with the
Placement School
This element of the final assessment will enable you to demonstrate that you can
deliver successful and sustainable school improvement in other school settings and
can use the experience to reflect upon and improve your own leadership
competencies.
This task will test three leadership competencies:
Figure 5: competencies tested in Task 2
Strategic leadership
Impact and Influence
Educational excellence
Delivering continuous improvement
Educational excellence
Partnership and collaboration
The descriptions of the three leadership competencies tested can be found in
Appendix 1.
Key elements of the task:

You are required to lead for a short period (a minimum of four days of
your placement) in your placement school on an actual school
improvement priority working closely with placement school staff and the
school leadership (SLT and governing body or equivalent).

The school improvement priority selected should be in the school
improvement plan or similar whole school plan. The task should be
strategic and positively impact on the whole school

The task should be self-contained and achievable within the timescale but
should be sufficient challenging to firstly enable you to develop and
secondly to provide evidence of the competencies relating to
Educational excellence and Strategic leadership being tested in this
task(see below for further specific guidance)

The task should enable you to:
o Negotiate the placement task with the placement school
headteacher, including the expected outcomes, the timescale needed
to undertake and evaluate it and the support needed from the
placement school
o Review the context of the placement school and how the
chosen priority relates to the school’s overall plans for school
improvement
o Lead and involve others to secure agreement on objectives, the
approach to delivering the priority, and in the actual delivery of the
task
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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o
o
Engage effectively and work in partnership with
pupils/students, staff, school leaders, governors and other
relevant stakeholders in delivering the priority
Report on the task outcomes and gain support for the
arrangements and accountabilities you create for ensuring
sustainable improvement to SLT and governing body or
equivalent; using these presentation(s) as an opportunity to develop
leadership competencies in the placement school context

You will also, over the whole period of the placement:
o evaluate your leadership of the school improvement priority
within the placement school(including taking account of feedback
from the placement school headteacher)
o extend your knowledge of school leadership in a different
context through developing an on-going relationship with the
placement school
and improve your leadership in your own school or context (using the
remaining days – up to five)

The task must be sufficiently advanced by the time of submission for you to
demonstrate sustainable improvement – you will need to evaluate the
outcomes from your leadership and provide quantified evidence (where
possible)of your personal impact including the positive difference
your work has had in the school and on meeting its goals and of
arrangements and accountabilities in place to sustain the change
and to be taken forward by placement school staff

You will need to show how you used:
o research and school evidence
o learning from the essential and elective modules
o knowledge and expertise in key national policy priorities
to inform your leadership decision making, and evidence of your
development as a school leader will also be required (see below for
further specific guidance).
Specific guidance on providing competency-based evidence on leading a
school improvement priority and developing as a school leader
You should begin by reading the descriptions of the three leadership competencies
tested in the Task in Appendix 1.
Undertaking the task should enable your further development in Educational
excellence and you should be able to demonstrate in your submission for
assessment:
o Delivering continuous improvement including involving and inspiring
governors and stakeholders to support the school vision for the school
improvement priority and in strategically planning for its delivery,
determining and evaluating innovative strategies for action to improve
teaching and learning and/or the curriculum in the context of the school’s
performance using relevant data and information (including research,
learning from essential and elective modules and expertise in key national
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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o
policy areas), setting suitably ambitious targets and success criteria, and
working with leaders, staff, governors (or equivalent) and other
stakeholders on delivery
Partnership and collaboration including building positive relationships
with a wide range of people, being aware of different agendas and
perspectives and taking these into account in building consensus ,
creating opportunities for informing and working collaboratively with a
wide range of stakeholders including parents/carers and the wider
community, using mechanisms such as networking and creating
structures and processes for cooperation, collaboration and sharing
expertise between institutions so that priorities for partnership working
are identified and the stakeholders of all institutions benefit
Undertaking the task should enable your further development in Strategic
leadership and you should be able to demonstrate in your submission for
assessment:
o Impact and influence including having good negotiation and
communication skills, making a positive impact through the ability to
unite others around the school’s vision and through presenting
information and proposals in a way that increases understanding,
holds attention and inspires and engages others , listening to others
views and being able to tailor their communication to suit the
audience, when agreement needs to be reached able to influence
others directly or through third parties, so that they are sure of
sufficient support before difficult decisions have to be taken and
presenting their arguments and proposals clearly and logically so that
others are persuaded of their efficacy and agreement can be reached
on a way forward during negotiations
Specific guidance on the submission of evidence
The submission to the Assessment Panel will be in two parts:


Your submission to the Assessment Panel
Your placement headteacher’s submission to the Assessment Panel – based
on observation of your leadership of the school improvement priority, your
on-going relationship with the school to extend your knowledge of school
leadership and improve your own leadership, and your submission to the
Assessment Panel.
Your submission to the Assessment Panel
You are able to choose what you submit and the form your submission takes, subject
to the limitations set out below. Your submission should comprise actual school
documents and documents prepared for the placement task but unless these
documents are comprehensive and self-explanatory you will also need to include a
short commentary to explain how you demonstrated the leadership competencies
being tested through your leadership of the priority for school improvement, your ongoing relationship with the school and how you improved your own leadership as a
result.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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You should ensure that your documentation covers:






Your preparation for the task, relationship with the placement school over the
period of the placement and the nature of the school improvement priority
Your leadership of the priority, including actions taken and how you involved,
led and worked in partnership with leaders, staff, pupils/students, governors
(or equivalent) and other stakeholders to secure agreement on objectives,
the approach to delivering the priority, and in the actual delivery of the task
Your evaluation of outcomes for the school: including quantified evidence
(where possible) of your personal impact including the positive difference
your work has had in the school and on meeting its goals and the
arrangements and accountabilities you created to secure sustainable
improvement
Your reporting to stakeholders and accountability for the outcomes of your
leadership of the priority
Your evaluation of personal outcomes: the development of your leadership
competencies and of the changes you have made to your leadership in your
own school/setting
Reflects the guidance given above on the ‘Key elements of the task’
and ‘Providing competency-based evidence on leading a school
improvement priority and developing as a school leader’.
Documentation
When submitting the actual school documents and documents prepared for the
placement task that provide competency-based evidence of your leadership and
leadership development and the explanatory commentary, if you wish to include this,
you must not exceed 12 pages of A4 in font size 12 and these must be
capable of being read and understood within 30 minutes reading time.
Actual school documents and documents prepared for the placement task could
include, for example:
 Objectives and plan for the Placement task, agreed with the placement
headteacher
 Extract from action plan or equivalent produced for the priority
 Outline of staff development led by you
 Extract from policy document(s) produced under your leadership
 Extract from reports to SLT and/or governing body or equivalent
 Quantified analysis of outcomes /positive impact prepared for use in
placement school.
 Account of on-going relationship with the placement school and own
leadership development taken from reports to own school/setting SLT and/or
governing body or equivalent
The Placement Headteacher’s submission to the Assessment Panel will be
an evaluation of your leadership of the school improvement priority and leadership
development and this will be based upon their observation of your leadership of the
priority, their observation of your leadership development from the on-going
relationship with the school and their reading of your submission for the Assessment
Panel.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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A form (to be presented in landscape for ease of completion) with accompanying
guidance will be provided to make this process as straightforward as possible for the
Placement Headteacher. Placement Headteachers will be asked to verify the
evidence you submit and give their own assessment of your leadership of the school
improvement priority and the outcomes for the school, including arrangements and
accountabilities created for sustainable improvement, and of your leadership
development. Placement Headteachers will be provided with descriptions of the
competencies being tested and the guidance you have been given on undertaking
the task.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Figure 6: NPQH Task 2 Leading school improvement working in
partnership with the Placement School
Placement Headteacher’s submission to the Assessment Panel
Name of trainee headteacher……………………………………………………….
As Placement Headteacher, you are asked to verify the evidence provided by the trainee
headteacher and to give your own assessment of their leadership of the school improvement priority
and leadership development while on placement. Please read the descriptions of the competencies
supplied as well as the statements set out below and comment on key aspects of their development in
the three specific leadership competencies and on their leadership development overall. Please also
provide quantified evidence of the outcomes and the positive impact of their leadership in the school,
where possible (column 2).
Then award the most appropriate grade (column 3) from the scale set out below to reflect the extent to
which they have used the opportunity of leading the school improvement priority and developing an ongoing relationship with your school to gain a broader understanding of school leadership and the degree
of progress they have made in improving their leadership and developing the specific leadership
competencies tested:
Very good: trainee headteacher made full use of the opportunities for development and made
outstanding progress in leadership development
Good: trainee headteacher made use of many opportunities for development and made
significant progress in leadership development
Moderate: trainee headteacher made some use of the opportunities for development and
made some progress in leadership development
Poor: trainee headteacher made limited use of the opportunities for development and limited
progress
Leadership competency
Verification and additional
Grade
evidence
Awarded:
Very good,
good,
moderate,
poor
Delivering
continuous
improvement
including involving and inspiring governors and
stakeholders to support the school vision for the
school improvement priority and in strategically
planning for its delivery, determining and
evaluating innovative strategies for action to
improve teaching and learning and/or the
curriculum in the context of the school’s
performance
using
relevant
data
and
information (including research, learning from
essential and elective modules and expertise in
key national policy areas), setting suitably
ambitious targets and success criteria, and
working with leaders, staff, governors (or
equivalent) and other stakeholders on delivery
Partnership and collaboration including
building positive relationships with a wide range
of people, being aware of different agendas and
perspectives and taking these into account in
building consensus , creating opportunities for
informing and working collaboratively with a
wide range of stakeholders including
parents/carers and the wider community, using
mechanisms such as networking and creating
structures and processes for cooperation,
collaboration and sharing expertise between
institutions so that priorities for partnership
working are identified and the stakeholders of
all institutions benefit
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Impact and influence including having good
negotiation and communication skills, making a
positive impact through the ability to unite
others around the school’s vision and through
presenting information and proposals in a way
that increases understanding, holds attention
and inspires and engages others , listening to
others views and being able to tailor their
communication to suit the audience, when
agreement needs to be reached able to
influence others directly or through third
parties, so that they are sure of sufficient
support before difficult decisions have to be
taken and presenting their arguments and
proposals clearly and logically so that others are
persuaded of their efficacy and agreement can
be reached on a way forward during
negotiations
Understanding of leadership in the
placement school including the development
of an on-going relationship with the placement
school and an understanding of its context
Using the placement to evaluate and
develop their leadership, including how they
sought and responded to feedback and
improved their leadership, and the impact of
changes made in the placement setting
Placement Headteacher’s signature………………………………
Date…………………………..
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Task 3 Practical knowledge and expertise demonstrated in test
environments
This task comprises two elements in test environments:
o Firstly, you will undertake a case study assessment that will enable you to
use your practical experience of school leadership, learning from the essential
and elective modules and knowledge and expertise in key national policy
areas. The case studies will cover:
 Leading school financial management
 Leading teacher appraisal
You will need to demonstrate you are able to manage these key aspects of a
school that you may not have been able to take full leadership of while on
NPQH and show you are able to make appropriate decisions and justify your
actions.
o Secondly, you will attend a presentation/interview. You will make a
presentation to a panel and answer questions put by the panel both on the
content of your presentation and your progress towards successful headship
through NPQH. You will need to be able to show you have developed the
competence to present in a credible way as a headteacher. You should also
be prepared to demonstrate how you have used your NPQH experiences to
reflect upon and improved your own leadership competencies to a level that
shows your readiness to take up your first headship.
The case study element of task 3 will test two leadership competencies:
Figure 7: competencies tested in case study element of Task 3
Operational
Management
Operational
Management
Efficient and effective
Holding others to account
The descriptions of the two leadership competencies tested in the case study
element of the Task can be found in Appendix 1.
Key elements of the task:

The task will be timed and will be taken in a controlled setting

The task will comprise two case study tests which will require you to
consider a situation, make decisions about what to do and justify
your actions. One test will focus on the leading school financial
management aspects of the leadership competency Efficient and effective
and the other the leading teacher appraisal aspects of the leadership
competencies Efficient and effective and Holding others to account

In your responses you will need to provide evidence of the aspects of
the Operational management competences tested in this task (leading
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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school financial management and teacher appraisal - see below for specific
guidance)

You will need to use:
o research and school evidence
o learning from the essential and elective modules
o knowledge and expertise in key national policy priorities
to inform you leadership decision making.
Specific guidance on providing competency-based evidence in case study
element of Task 3
The case study will to require you to demonstrate a full understanding of
how to lead school financial management, including how to use financial
resources efficiently and effectively to achieve the school’s goals and in a way that
maximises performance and secures value for money; how undertake both strategic
financial planning and operational budget management and to set school capital and
revenue budgets with the governing body, or equivalent; how to seek sources of
finance to widen the resource base of the school; how to make sound judgements
about financial systems and to review and improve these as required, including
employing robust audit processes to ensure outcomes are achieved and devolving
budgetary responsibilities wisely and with appropriate safeguards; how to regularly
monitor spending against both the budget and appropriate benchmarks, manage
within the parameter of the budget and take corrective action when required; and
how to report and be accountable to the governing body, or equivalent, on school
finance.
The case study will to require you to demonstrate a full understanding of
how to lead teacher appraisal, including how to secure effective teacher
performance through a consistent and efficient staff performance management
system (teacher appraisal) that complies with legislative and other national or legal
requirements; how to distribute leadership for performance management to the most
appropriate level; how to create levels of accountability within the school and clearly
communicate expectations and standards required; how to use performance
management to achieve school priorities and monitor staff performance against
objectives and targets; how to support staff development to help ensure objectives
and targets are met; how to give constructive and specific feedback on performance;
how to monitor progress against objectives and targets, recognise and praise
success and quickly tackle staff underperformance and address capability and
misconduct; how to regularly monitor the operation of and make sound judgements
about HR systems and to review and improve these as required; and how to report
and be accountable to the governing body, or equivalent, on teacher appraisal.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Proceeding to the presentation/interview element of Task 3
In order to proceed to the presentation/interview element of Task 3 you will need to
have reached the required standard in Tasks 1, Task 2 and Task 3 (case study). If in
one or more of these Tasks you do not reach the required standard you will be
notified and given an opportunity to take the Task again within a defined time
period.
The presentation/interview element of Task 3 will test nine leadership
competencies
Figure 8: Competencies tested in presentation/interview element of Task 3
Strategic leadership
Personal drive and accountability
Strategic leadership
Resilience and emotional maturity
Strategic leadership
Impact and Influence
Educational excellence
Delivering continuous improvement
Educational excellence
Modelling excellence in teaching
Educational excellence
Learning focus
Educational excellence
Partnership and collaboration
Operational management
Efficient and Effective
Operational management
Holding others to account
The descriptions of the nine leadership competencies tested in the
presentation/interview element of the Task can be found in Appendix 1.
Key elements of the task

The presentation/interview will last an hour, before a panel (with at least one
serving head)

The process will begin with you delivering a fifteen minute oral
presentation on becoming a successful headteacher. You can choose
how to make your presentation and how you use the time available but you
should cover:
o the progress you have made towards becoming a successful
headteacher while on NPQH, with particular reference to the
nine leadership competencies tested in the final assessment
process, with examples of how you used the competencies
when in leading in schools
o the key development experiences for you (for example, your
practical experience in school, the placement, learning from
the essential and elective modules)
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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o
your personal impact (quantified where possible) and the
positive difference your leadership has had in the schools you
have worked with, using specific competency-related
examples.
You may use PowerPoint or other presentation suites that you would use in a
school setting (the number of slides etc. must be compatible with a 15
minute presentation to a panel) and/or a handout (the length and format of
this must be compatible with a 15 minute presentation to a panel). The panel
will time the presentation and you will be asked to stop after fifteen minutes
if you have not finished. You will be responsible for ensuring any specialist
equipment is available and ready to use. A full copy of your presentation
will need to be provided in advance to both your sponsor for
verification and to the Final Assessment Panel. The manner in which
you present as well as the content of your presentation will be
assessed by the panel having regard to the leadership competence
Impact and influence.

Following your presentation there will be fifteen minutes of questioning on
your presentation by members of the panel. The panel will time the
questioning and you will be asked to stop after fifteen minutes if you have
not finished. The manner in which you respond to questioning as well
as the content of your responses will be assessed by the panel
having regard to the leadership competence Impact and influence.

In the remainder of the interview the panel will be able to question you on
any of the nine leadership competencies being tested in the final assessment,
but should there be any of the competencies where you have not reached the
highest possible standard in Tasks 1, 2 or 3 (case study element) they will
include questions on these to give you the opportunity to demonstrate you
have reached the required standard by provide stronger evidence of your
leadership experience and practice. In deciding what competencies to test the
panel will be informed by the assessments of Tasks 1, 2 and 3 (case study
element), the final assessment from your sponsor on your progress towards
successful headship and the evidence of the progress you have made since
the Gateway assessments. With regard to the results of the tasks, you will be
advised following each task of any competencies where you have not reached
the highest possible standard and will therefore be able to take account of
this in your further development and in preparing for the
presentation/interview.
Sponsor’s final assessment of the trainee headteacher’s progress towards
successful headship
Sponsors will be asked to assess your progress towards successful headship based
upon their observation of your leadership and to verify your presentation for the
Assessment Panel.
A form with accompanying guidance will be provided to make this process as
straightforward as possible for the sponsor. Sponsors will be asked to verify the
evidence you submit as part of your presentation and give their own assessment of
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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your leadership development and provide quantified evidence (where possible) of
your personal impact including the positive difference your leadership has had in the
school and on meeting its goals. Sponsors will be provided with descriptions of the
leadership competencies being tested and the guidance you have been given on
undertaking the Final Assessment tasks.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Figure 9: NPQH Task 3 Presentation/Interview
Sponsor’s Statement of trainee headteacher’s progress towards successful
headship
Name of trainee headteacher………………………………………….
Leadership
competencies:
Presentation
Sponsor: please verify the trainee headteacher’s presentation on their progress towards
successful headship.
Please evaluate the trainee headteacher’s progress towards successful headship in
relation to the specific leadership competencies based upon your observation of their
leadership and provide quantified evidence (where possible) of their personal impact,
including the positive difference their leadership has had in the school and on meeting its
goals.
Verification:
Personal drive
and
accountability
Resilience and
emotional
maturity
Impact and
Influence
Delivering
continuous
improvement
Modelling
excellence in
teaching
Learning focus
Partnership and
collaboration
Efficient and
Effective
Holding others
to account
Sponsor’s signature…………………………… Date ……………………………
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Appendix 1 NPQH Competency Framework
Strategic Leadership
Self awareness and self management
Someone who is ready for headship is aware of their personal strengths, weaknesses
and areas for future development and understands how their own leadership
behaviour impacts on others and manages this effectively. They have knowledge of
their own emotional triggers, ways to manage them effectively and behave
consistently in line with professional and personal values and vision.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to understand their own strengths, weaknesses and areas for
development and how their leadership behaviours impact on others so that they can
maximise their impact as a leader.
Personal drive and accountability
Someone who is ready for headship is driven and focused on improvement. They are
results orientated and seek to achieve the highest standards within their role through
setting and striving to achieve their goals. They are self motivated, energetic and
willing to take on new challenges to improve their performance. They are decisive,
work for the best interests of pupils and account for their performance to the
governing body and other stakeholders.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to be motivated to reach the highest possible professional
standards, to deliver tough objectives and take on challenges in order to achieve and
be accountable for high performance throughout the school.
Resilience and emotional maturity
Someone who is ready for headship is resilient, focused and tenacious when faced
with the demands of the job and continually challenging circumstances. They are
able to respond positively when managing uncertainty and adversity. They remain
focussed on personal and organisational values, and adhere to these, even in
difficult, long-term situations.
Why it matters
Headteachers work in a challenging, highly autonomous and pressurised
environment. They will be faced with adversity and will have to manage and recover
from setbacks. They also need to be honest and transparent in their interactions and
communications with all key stakeholders to reflect a high trust culture.
Conceptual thinking
Someone who is ready for headship is able to identify patterns between potentially
unrelated concepts and draw on past experience to make sense of underlying issues
and understand a situation. They take a broader view and utilise additional
information to create new ways of and approaches to doing things, and to come up
with highly innovative ways of solving problems. They are able to simplify complex
issues for others.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Why it matters
Headteachers are required to use their previous work and life experiences to make
sense of the issues they face as the leader of the school. They will need to identify
creative strategic solutions to educational and organisational challenges and to
explain these to others.
Future focus
Someone who is ready for headship continually looks ahead and identifies/
capitalises on opportunities that are likely to arise, as well as managing day to day
challenges, and takes action to resolve these. They embrace the opportunities for
change and are well able to engage others, including the governing body, to
successfully bring change about and to evaluate its impact.
Why it matters
It is important that Headteachers recognise the positive opportunities for change. In
their leadership they must also be able to address both immediate issues quickly and
take action over the long term to ensure that changes needed to improve the school
are embraced and implemented with minimum disruption.
Impact and Influence
Someone who is ready for headship has a positive impact on pupils, colleagues and
the wider community through inspiration and persuasion to their perspective. They
know when they need to negotiate to a solution. They communicate effectively,
understand others’ perspectives and priorities and tailor their communication to suit
their audience. They lead others and bring their governing body and communities on
board by articulating a compelling vision and uniting them around shared goals and
objectives.
Why it matters
Headteachers must be able to inspire and influence pupils, colleagues, governors and
the community in an appropriate and considered manner, articulating a compelling
vision in order to create an energising learning environment for all. To do this they
must understand the needs and motivations of others, adapting their leadership
approach to create the desired impact and outcomes.
Educational Excellence
Delivering continuous improvement
Someone who is ready for headship will have a clear vision of the central importance
of leading teaching and learning in terms of driving and sustaining school
improvement and creating improved life chances for pupils, their families and their
community. They use their skills to quickly gain a full understanding of the overall
performance of the school and make a judgment about what requires improvement.
They work with the governing body and other stakeholders to successfully identify,
strategically plan for and lead delivery of the necessary and appropriate
improvement strategies.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to be able to develop vision and to identify the priorities which
lead to improvements in teaching and learning and to implement these to achieve a
high quality education to improve outcomes for all pupils.
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Modelling excellence in teaching
Someone who is ready for headship will have a deep understanding of the
characteristics of excellent/outstanding teaching, informed by current research and
be able to articulate this effectively to others. They will have a systematic approach
to monitoring, make sound judgements about the quality of the teaching and
learning across the school, and develop and deliver a wide range of improvement
strategies.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to be able to recognise excellence in teaching and be able to
demonstrate how teaching can be improved and improvement sustained so that the
learning and achievement of all pupils is maximised.
Learning focus
Someone who is ready for headship will be passionate about learning and will embed
a culture of learning for all members of the school community and foster equality of
access. They have an unswerving belief that schools have a crucial role to play in
changing lives and improving life chances and will monitor learning systematically to
ensure progress.
Why it matters
Headteachers must have the desire and passion to want to help others to improve
themselves and those around them. They must be committed to improving the life
chances of all pupils and work with others to ensure that every pupil has the
opportunity to succeed.
Partnership and collaboration
Someone who is ready for headship is able to work collaboratively with a range of
people in schools, governing bodies and the wider community, to build a culture of
cooperation and raise achievement through partnership working. They are open to
different perspectives and viewpoints as well as being able to achieve agreement on
common goals and objectives and the contribution to be made across the education
system.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to build partnerships, collaborate with others and share expertise
in a powerful and effective way to achieve common goals and objectives and
improve outcomes for all pupils and the education system.
Organisational and community understanding
Someone who is ready for headship has a good understanding of the power
relationships in their own organisation, including the governing body, other
organisations and the wider community with which they work. They are able to
identify and engage with the major influencers and decision makers within the
community. They can predict how new events or situations will affect individuals or
groups within the community.
Why it matters
Headteachers must work with people within and beyond their own school to improve
outcomes for all pupils and the education system. It is critical therefore that they
know who the key players are and understand both spoken and unspoken factors
that impact on decisions and actions.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Operational Management
Efficient and effective
Someone who is ready for headship will ensure that all systems and resources,
including financial, human and environmental resources, are used efficiently and
effectively to achieve the school’s goals and in a way that maximises performance
and secures value for money. They are attuned to opportunities that increase the
resources available to the school and improve the way the school functions. They
monitor the implementation of plans and the effectiveness of organisational
structures. They take corrective action where necessary to secure required
outcomes and account to the governing body and others for the school’s
performance. They have a broad understanding of the legal, political and technical
knowledge that affect the running of a school and keep up to date with major
changes.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to ensure that the school’s goals are achieved through deploying
resources in the best way and within the planned timeline. They also need to ensure
that the school is a ‘fit for purpose’ organisation with the best systems and processes
to achieve the school’s goals and that these are kept under review and up-to-date.
Headteachers have to take responsibility for the performance of the school and be
able to account for this to the governing body and others.
Analytical thinking
Someone who is ready for headship collects information and data systematically from
a wide variety of sources. They confidently analyse complex information and data
and understand the connections between issues through breaking down
opportunities and challenges into their constituent parts. They are able to break
down a problem in a systematic way and establish causal relationships between
issues that may or may not be obviously related, to better enable a solution to be
found. Their analytical skills enable them to prioritise issues and to plan how to
implement the actions necessary to achieve change and improvement.
Why it matters
It is important that Headteachers can break down opportunities and challenges and
link the related issues using a broad range of information. This helps them to
understand the implications of situations, employ sound judgement in their decision
making and identify the best ways to proceed in managing the organisation.
Relationship management
Someone who is ready for headship is able to develop and sustain appropriate
internal and external relationships, manage individuals and lead effective teams.
They know about the impact of behaviour and emotions of relationships, use this
knowledge to understand why others behave the way they do and take this into
account when communicating and working with others.
Why it matters
The school is best managed and its goals and objectives achieved by involving
relevant stakeholders and the effective leadership of individuals and teams: therefore
it is critical to develop effective relationships in order to gain a deep understanding of
others’ motivations and perspectives.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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Holding others to account
Someone who is ready for headship holds others to account by clearly
communicating expectations, and gives constructive and specific feedback. They
ensure goals or objectives are achieved by getting others to do what is asked of
them even if it involves tough or unpopular decisions. These choices or actions will
always be instigated with the best interests of pupils/students and the school in
mind.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to ensure educational standards are raised. They will have to
make interventions where required in managing the organisation. This is critical in
order that schools and the education sector deliver what is expected in sustained
school improvement.
Developing others
Someone who is ready for headship develops others so that they develop leadership
potential where possible. They ensure succession planning is in place and learning
and development needs are addressed. This involves continually seeking out
opportunities to support and develop colleagues so they perform at their best.
Why it matters
Headteachers need to demonstrate a genuine commitment to developing others.
They need to support and empower others to reach their full potential and to create
an environment where others are more confident and better motivated to achieve
results and the school’s goals and to work efficiently and effectively.
© 2012 National College for School Leadership
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