Autumn 2024 – Changes to eligibility

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Background

We are no longer able to provide scholarship funding for all national professional qualifications (NPQs). In response to this, the policy team reviewed and iterated the scholarship funding eligibility criteria for NPQ courses.

The following NPQs are still fully funded for eligible teachers and leaders working in publicly funded schools and 16 to 19 settings:

  • headship

  • early headship coaching offer

  • leading primary maths

  • special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs)

NPQs with targeted scholarships

If you are:

  • in the top 50% of schools with the highest proportion of pupils who attract pupil premium funding;

  • a 16 to 19 setting identified as having high disadvantage; or

  • a highly disadvantaged early years setting (for EYL NPQ only)

The following NPQs are fully funded for eligible teachers and leaders:

  • early years leadership

  • executive leadership

  • leading behaviour and culture

  • leading literacy

  • leading teacher development

  • leading teaching

  • senior leadership

Changes we made

These eligibility changes were made while the service was closed to help assign the correct eligibility to registrations based on the course start date.

GOV.UK guidance pages

Were updated to reflect the new funding criteria.

Excel lists were added to GOV.UK to allow users to work out if their establishment was in the top 50% of schools with the highest proportion of pupils who attract pupil premium funding.

NPQ registration service flow

Most of the changes to the registration service for determining eligibility were not user-facing. The changes were to the rules in the background doing the checks, including adding the pupil premium lists as a check for some NPQ courses, and limiting the past eligibility rules to the other NPQ courses.

Alongside that, user-facing changes were:

  • For users working in an ‘early years or childcare’ setting, an additional option for ‘as a childminder’ was added to the ‘which early years setting do you work in?’ question. This allowed us to check users who are childminders against a specific eligible list. After choosing ‘as a childminder’ the user is taken down the same flow as the ‘private nursery’ or ‘another early years setting’ options (this flow has not been changed).

  • New variations of not eligible funding message were added. These cover, when the users establishment is not on the pupil premium list, or when the users setting is not eligible for the particular course they select.

  • Updates to funding messages, to mention funded places as described in this post.

Screenshots

NPQ funding guidance page

Screenshot of the NPQ funding guidance page on GOV.UK. This explains who is eligible for scholarship funding for the different NPQ courses and links to the lists of establishment in the top 50% of pupil premium.

‘What setting do you work in?’ question

Screenshot of 'what setting do you work in?' question in the service, with the 'early years or childcare' option selected.

‘Which early years setting do you work in?’ question

Screenshot of 'which early years setting do you work in?' question in the service, with the new 'as a childminder' option selected.

Funding outcome message – not eligible for this course

This funding outcome message shows when the user selects a course they are not eligible for funding for, but they might or are eligible for a different course. It prompts when to go back and select a different course.

Screenshot of the funding outcome message for when the person could be eligible for funding but isn't for the course they have selected. This reads: "You’re not eligible for scholarship funding for the Leading literacy NPQ as you do not work in one of the eligible settings, such as state-funded schools. This means that you would need to pay for the course another way. For example you could pay for the course fees yourself or ask your workplace or trust to: cover the full cost of the course, share the cost of the course with you. However, you may be eligible for scholarship funding for the early years leadership NPQ. You can go back and select the early years leadership NPQ instead to check if you're eligible."

Funding outcome message – not in eligible establishment list

This funding outcome message shows when the users establishment is not in the list of the top 50% of pupil premium establishment and is therefore not eligible for scholarship funding.

Screenshot of the funding outcome message for when the users establishment is not in the list of the top 50% of pupil premium establishment and is therefore not eligible for scholarship funding. This reads: "You’re not eligible for scholarship funding for the Leading literacy NPQ as your workplace is not in the list of settings that are eligible for funding. This means that you would need to pay for the course another way. For example you could pay for the course fees yourself or ask your workplace or trust to: cover the full cost of the course, share the cost of the course with you. However, you may be eligible for scholarship funding for one of the following courses: leading primary mathematics, headship, special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO), early headship coaching offer. You can go back and select one of these courses instead to check if you're eligible."