Preparing Headteachers in England

The Education Reform Act 1988 increased the scope of headteachers' work and led to an emphasis on ‘management', often interpreted as the implementation of government policies, checked through the Ofsted inspection regime. Following the election of a Labour government in 1997, the discourse changed to ‘leadership'. Leadership development in England is dominated by the National College for School Leadership, which was opened in 2000, a product of New Labour's stress on ‘education, education, education'. The College offers a raft of provision for leaders at all levels, including the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH), which was introduced in 1997. As the title implies, the NPQH is seen as a professional qualification and focuses more on what heads can ‘do' than what they know. The NPQH become mandatory for new heads in 2009 but reverted to optional status in 2012. This paper reviews the evidence on the impact of the NPQH and considers how it could be developed to blend leadership learning with leadership practice.