ACCREDITED PROVIDER OF NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS (NPQs)

The NPQs are a set of four qualifications designed to support the professional development of school leaders. The four qualifications are: • National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership (NPQML) • National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL) • National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) • National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership (NPQEL) DfE is inviting applications from schools and other organisations who wish to start delivering these new qualifications in the 2017 to 2018 academic year. The DfE is looking for a range of providers to design, deliver, and assess one or more of the NPQs across England. The DfE will be operating a fair and objective application process. Please see the Invitation to Apply document for further details. Accredited providers will work within a flexible set of frameworks set out in the Accreditation Agreement that comprise: o a Levels and Qualifications Framework that identifies the range of qualifications that providers can choose to deliver; o a Content and Assessment Framework that sets out the core knowledge and skills that providers must teach as part of each qualification, and the tasks and criteria against which providers will assess their candidates; and o a Quality Framework that sets out the standards of provision that providers must meet to retain accreditation. While providers will be required to meet the expectations set out in the Quality Framework, including the provision of content that teaches the core knowledge and skills set out in the Content and Assessment Framework, they will have the freedom to: o deliver any or all of the four NPQ qualifications at a national, cross-regional, regional, or sub-regional level o develop and deliver bespoke, context-based content in or around all of the knowledge and skills detailed in the Content and Assessment Framework, offering qualifications that are tailored to the particular needs of school leaders - this could be by phase or type, such as NPQSL for primary leaders or an NPQH for the headteachers of faith schools Every provider of NPQs will be required to deliver a proportion of their courses to aspirant and serving leaders in disadvantaged schools. This may be achieved through working with school partners and/or using innovative methods such as distance learning.

See 'attachments' for a Word version of this description.

Additional information: Contract Start Date: Starting in the 2017 to 2018 academic year. Contract End Date: An Accreditation Agreement with the right to provide NPQ courses from the 3 years starting in the 2017 to 2018 academic year will be issued to successful applicants with annual break clauses.

Estimated value or range of values: Providers will not be paid by the DfE for operating under an Accreditation Agreement. However, providers accredited by way of an Accreditation Agreement will be able to charge participants who attend the NPQs courses they provide.

Provider information events have been advertised (https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/729fef40-69b1-49e5-9c96-d963a8a3f9d2), however, these events are now fully subscribed. All materials used at these events, including questions and answers documents, will be attached to this notice. All questions must be received no later than 17:00 16 March 2017. Questions received after this date will not be responded to