npqsl assignment examples

Auden Education Consultancy

NPQ Summative Assessment Tips

Updated: Jul 29

A great motto, one I try to live by, but on this occasion, my past self has let me down…

I spent some time last week going over my NPQ summative assessment support session ready to help colleagues ahead of the April window.  As you may know 1 in 20 participants don’t meet the standard to pass, and as you only get one chance to retake, it’s vital to prepare thoroughly.

A key aspect of my own prep is to incorporate the things I noticed when assessing and moderating in the last window. 

My notes, pictured here, certainly didn’t make that easy for me this time round, but I have finally managed to decipher the indecipherable, and here are my NPQ summative assessment tips, one for each section.

1.      Identify the problem.

Try to differentiate between the exacerbating factors, the problems themselves and the impact of the problems (an idea helpfully illustrated with a small triangle in my notes). 

What I mean here is that a lot of participants will spend many words describing the context of the school, especially if it has higher than national pupil premium or English as an additional language.  While these are certainly more difficult circumstances, you can’t actually solve these “problems”, so I tend to think of them instead as exacerbating factors which I would suggest you reference towards the end of Part 1, and only if they are relevant to the problems themselves. 

On the other hand, the impact of the problems is what has happened as a result of the issues within a setting, so this might be soft indicators like low staff morale, or student and parent dissatisfaction.  You’ll probably also find reference to low student performance or widening gaps and, very often in the case studies, a recent ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted judgement.

Again though, you can’t directly solve these “problems” – they will be improved by the solutions you provide for the real problems, which I’d suggest you focus on.

2.      Solutions and rationale

The most common mistake I see in this section is with the rationale.  For some NPQ providers the rationale is addressed as a separate question, and for some it is included in the same section as the solutions.  I think it’s more helpful to think of them very separately, because the rationale often gets forgotten as the participant shares the solutions which will allow them to fix the problems identified in Part 1.

Let’s say that one of your solutions is to implement a school-wide policy of recall activities to start every lesson.  The rationale can’t just be that this is an issue at the moment and students report unsettled starts to lessons, for example.  That will cause you to repeat yourself from Part 1, and every word needs to be used effectively when you’re working to such a strict word count. 

Instead, in this example of recall activities, you could justify this solution by explaining:

·        That both teachers and students will benefit from clear routines at the start of lessons that create a calm atmosphere conducive to learning (NPQSL LT4.9).

·        How this supports the management of students’ cognitive load, with reference to Rosenshine’s first principle or Deans for Impact.

·        EEF findings around simple, regular routines that support managing behaviour.

Ultimately, your rationale should show not just that your solution is an appropriate solution, but that it is the best  solution.

3.      Implementation

This is by far and away the section where most participants seem to struggle, and I totally understand why.  There often seems to be a real temptation to repeat Part 2, and outline the solutions in even more detail, even going into specific logistics at times.  But that’s not what the implementation section is about.

Implementation is all about how you’re going to explore, prepare, deliver and sustain the solutions.

Before writing this section, I’d suggest that you do the following:

·        Go back to the implementation modules from your NPQ course and re-read the content and related research.

·        Read through the implementation section in your NPQ framework – it’s section 8 for NPQSL: National professional qualifications frameworks - GOV.UK ( www.gov.uk ) .  The Learn How To statements are helpfully divided into the stages of implementation, so plan, choose, prepare, deliver, sustain.

·        Remind yourself of the EEF’s implementation guidance: Implementation | EEF ( educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk ) .

So as I continue trying to decipher my own notes from February, I hope you can use this advice in your upcoming summative assessment, and “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”

If you feel like you need a bit more help preparing, you can have a look at how to apply the EEF's updated implementation guidance to your NPQ summative assessment here .

I can also offer support that goes into much more detail on the following topics:

·        Overall approach

·        Features of successful responses for each section

·        Common pitfalls for each section

If you were unfortunate enough not to pass last time and are retaking, I can take a detailed look at your responses and any feedback you’ve been given, and I can then offer tailored support to help you prepare this time and pass.

Recent Posts

Mastering NPQ Summative Assessments

National Professional Qualification for School Leadership

Author biography.

@TeacherToolkit

How do you know what you are doing, if you are not supported or know what to do?

It is a common approach in our classrooms that when teaching pupils, we share success criteria and exemplar work to support the learning. However, it appears that it is hard to find the same support when teachers are conducting their own action research…

Several years ago I was supporting about 20 middle leaders achieve their (NPQSL) national professional qualification for school leadership . At the time, it was hard to source any exemplary material to share with colleagues, to support and guide them on their journey. My networks at the time did not have the answers, so I took it upon myself to ask this question on social media. Almost 4 years later, I still receive requests from readers seeking the same advice …

You can read more about the content and assessment framework on the Department for Education website, and I would suggest this is your starting point if you have no support from your school or provider! The document is 51 pages long and you will need a thoughtful CPD leader in your school to be able to understand the details.

You will need to be able to evidence a range of knowledge and skills (page 18 onwards).

Strategy and improvement

• Analyse performance data to identify the causes of variation within a school and against comparative schools
• Ensure data collected is necessary, proportionate and manageable for staff
• Work with the governing board effectively to identify and agree approaches to school priorities
• Design and implement sustainable change across a school

Teaching and curriculum excellence

• Use a range of techniques to gather evidence on teaching quality and the impact of interventions across a school
• Reduce variation within the school and against comparative schools by improving pupil progress, attainment and behaviour
• Develop and maintain a rich, high-quality school curriculum

Leading with impact

• Lead, motivate and influence others, including beyond the line management chain, to deliver whole-school objectives
• Develop a communications plan that promotes or defends the school’s performance, policies or decisions effectively

Working in partnership

• Identify a range of local and national partners that can support school improvement
• Put in place systems, processes or structures which facilitate knowledge transfer and shared best practice
• Identify the most effective partnerships for improving pupil progress

Managing resources and risks

• Deploy resources across a school effectively and efficiently to deliver school priorities
• Monitor the use of resources across a school, identifying opportunities and pressures
• Systematically identify, manage and mitigate risks to the school, its pupils and staff

Increasing capability

• Identify excellent professional development practice
• Identify talent within an organisation and put in place arrangements or tools to develop and retain it
• Design professional development strategies, which engage all staff and anticipate future CPD needs

Health-warning

Sharing one example here could be perceived as best practice, so please take this example document as just an example, and not the best example. Although this example passed the NPQSL qualification, it is shared as a first-step in terms of understanding the dialogue and depth of evaluation required. I have only included the main document and not the supplementary evidence or annotations from the mentor.

I have attached an example below that you can download to use as a framework. I have much more behind-the-scenes, but I am reluctant to share them because achieving such a qualification should come from the support of the provider itself and your school mentor, and not from me.

What to plan for?

The greatest challenge I found in organising this across a large secondary school was ensuring that each individual selected the appropriate research – and that it was aligned with a suitable person within the school to regularly meet with them –  on top of the usual appraisal and line management processes. Whether you choose someone outside of these remits, it is dependent on your own context and the resources available.

What I managed to achieve is written in more detail and was largely subject to a group of hard-working school leaders who could commit some additional time to meet with these middle leaders. We also built our own shadow-leadership team for professional development purposes – how do you know if you will be good at the next stage of your career if you don’t get to ‘have a go’ at the job itself?

Your success will be conditional on ‘how dogged you are’ as a middle leader, to pursue regular discussions, and of course how willing the school leader will be to support the individual in around the busy nature of school life …

I hope at least from sharing it here, it helps some teachers get started who may not have any support at all.

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Special Education and Inclusive Learning

NPQSL: Final Project

Completing the npqsl final assessment.

Updated June 2019: Following the completion of my NPQML (after 2 attempts) In April 2018 I began the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leaders (NPQSL) . I didn’t find the NPQSL activities or face to face days as engaging as the NPQML but the process overall was very similar.

During the NPQSL I only wrote one post whilst this whole blog was set up because of the ML. I did write a case study and a lot of posts are outcomes of the project I completed for the NPQSL. At Canterbury Christ Church University’s SNIPCC conference I presented part of the underlying research

A lot was re-covering aspects of leadership roles from the NPQML. One session that was particularly challenging was a grilling by a panel consisting of a headteacher, a finance guru and a governor on a fictional school improvement plan. This, as it turned out was good training for a recent  OFSTED inspection. People will find a hole in your plan and hammer you! I have since undertaken this exact task during a “Goldfish Bowl” task during an interview process so that was useful practice. I have had three interviews (1 successful fortunately) no one has asked about the NPQSL . It is listed on my CV so may have been a factor in selection for interview.

The Project

The focus of the NPQSL course is very much on your project, planning and driving it. The aim is to enhance your leadership in education and it does allow you to focus your efforts on a project that can have a real impact on your school.

After 18 months of working on the project, I completed and submitted it, and waited. I checked my email Friday night and there it was:

Dear Participant, Following your recent assessment, your result and feedback are now available. You can access your result and feedback on the EMLC website ( www.emlc.co.uk )

The outcome of this opening could ruin my weekend. I text my colleague to say the results were in and she said she was going to wait until the morning. As I like to live life on the edge with pounding heart and fuzzy vision (I’m only mildly over-dramatising this) I logged in to the NPQSL website.

No Blog Post would be complete without top tips so here are my top 11 tips for completing your NPQSL:

Top Ten Eleven Tips for Getting your NPQSL Completed.

• Have a clear aim to your NPQSL project.
• Adapt the Plan if needed.
• Reflect on mistakes.
• Don’t hold back on celebrating successes.
• Collaborate outside your school.
• Keep evidence as you go.
• Evidence of every impact, charts, emails, tables.
• Choose a good team to support your project and prove buy-in.
• Don’t shrink evidence below standard font.
• Your leadership drove the improvement. No modesty.
• Your sponsor comments are vital reinforcement.

The Project Submission

I want to share my completed NPQSL project. Examples online are few and far between. I have had to redact some parts and evidence for obvious reasons and being a SEN provision my focus is unlikely to be the same but I hope the content and style should give you some pointers. All I ask is that you take the time to share Inclusiveteach.com with your colleagues. If you click the affiliate link below and buy anything from amazon it helps pay for hosting costs!

Download my Redacted Final NPQSL Project submission

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Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

NPQSL - final assessment

toomuchicecream · 18/02/2015 11:31

Is anyone here doing NPQSL? Or know anyone who is? I'm trying to put together the documentation for my final assessment at the moment, but am going round and round in circles.

Previously, there were 2 separate assessment tasks but these have now been combined into one. Nearly all the documentation I can find relates to the 2, old tasks. I'm trying to find out if there's a pro-forma I need to follow or if I just write it like a normal assignment.

I know it's a long shot, but you never know who's lurking around here....

Hi there! How did you get on with completing your final assessment? Mine is my project for this Easter hols so that I can give it to my supervisor with plenty of time to make any amendments before submitting. It's currently terrifying me. I'm sure I've not done enough work or kept enough evidence to back up what I'm trying to say.

On phone at mo - will reply properly when on laptop. How far gave you got?

Not as far as I'd like. It's a real struggle juggling normal school responsibilities, family life and the project. I've basically finished my whole school task and just need to evaluate the effectiveness of it after the holiday. Just want it done and out the way now.

OK - on laptop now.

When I wrote that post it was half term and I was trying very hard to get as much of the writing up done as possible as I've got a new job to start after Easter, so all evidence needed to be gathered before the end of term. I managed to work out that there is a form to complete for the final submission which is split into 3 sections - planning, implementation and review. If you go on the website of the assessing people (EMLC?) there's a useful podcast to listen to which gives lots of helpful advice about how to go about doing the write up. One thing which really stood out was that the form should be +/-10 pages and the supporting evidence +/- 12 pages - the limit is 22 pages.

My biggest problem was that in February I discovered that last September, before starting the task, I should have written an action plan for how I was going to do it. As is always the way in schools, my original project had been somewhat overtaken by events - I'd done everything I'd planned to but a whole lot else besides. So I went to see my mentor (who works in a different school) who helped me to write the action plan to incorporate all the other things I'd been doing as well so it looks like it always was my intention to do them!! I've written a second, personal action plan as well, focusing on the key competencies my diagnostic identified as areas of relative weakness (ones that are included in the assignment). That way I can tick the boxes which show what I've learnt as a leader on a personal level.

Does all that help at all? I reckon I'm about 1/2 way through my write up - one of the things I haven't got round to doing today was to tackle it. I need to look properly at the data I gathered before I left and analyse the results of the pupil questionnaires I did, in the hope that they show the change I need them to. The bit I haven't done is reference my learning from the course yet - I need to go through my notes and find some useful quotes to squidge in somewhere.

My submission window is July - September so I've got plenty of time yet, but as soon as I start my new job I'll forget what happened in the last one so I need to get down to it asap. I'm also concerned that the HT of my previous school was never great at replying to emails when I was his Deputy and I know he's got a very stressful term ahead of him. So I'm trying to work out what I can do if my reference form (whatever it's called) doesn't actually come back in time - the earlier I get it to him, the greater my chances of getting it back.

Just read your post and found it really helpful. I am writing up my NPQSL and still have a lot of work to do when I go back to school. Feeling stressed! I'm really struggling to write up and have been looking for examples of completed projects but cannot find any. Do you know where I could get hold of any to view?

Just came across this by chance. I'm hoping to do npqsl this year. Am I mad? How much extra work has it been?

I am sooooooo relieved to find this conversation on here! It is certainly reassuring to know im not the only one ever to find this tricky to get started! I am trying to complete my write up over half term as it needs to be in in a few weeks and i'm even finding the layout of writing the background confusing. I've searched for some NPQSL exemplars without any luck. Can anyone offer me any advice on how you set yours out please. Thank you in advance

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Sorry it's taken me a couple of days to respond on this one - since Jeffreygate I've not yet logged back into MN on my phone and it's taken until today for me to turn my laptop on :) Hopefully you've answered your own questions by now, but if not, here are my thoughts, for what they're worth.

As far as I know, there aren't any exemplars out there - we asked our course facilitators and they weren't able to supply any (possibly because of the change from 2 assignments to 1).

You need to use the form on the EMLC website: www.emlc.co.uk/assessment-documents.aspx?id=5 When it came to my write up, I just started at the top of the form and ploughed through. Because 2 or 3 of the competencies appear twice I found that I ended up moving stuff between sections. For me, the hardest bit was keeping down to the 22 page limit. I ended up leaving out loads of stuff eg the personal action plan I refer to in my last post, and lots of detail from the pupil surveys - I only had room to include a brief comparision of the key messages from the 2 surveys.

If you haven't already listened to it, then I can't recommend strongly enough that you download the webex from EMLC - it really helped me to get my head round what I should be doing. And finally - don't forget that your final write up isn't actually about your project or what you did in school. It's about how you've changed and grown as a leader during the course. The project is there to provide evidence of how you've met the 9 competencies. Good luck! (I'm still waiting for my results - it seems like such a long time ago that I did all this now!)

Hi I'm really struggling with how to start to write my npqsl project up, could anyone send me a sample please? Many thanks

Did you have any luck with a response? I'm still trying to get my head round it!

hi guys, I know you were talking about this ages ago but I'm hoping you can still help! I'm just in the process of writing up my report/collecting evidence for the NPQSL combined project but have a baby due within 4 weeks! eeeek.... The link for the web recording is no longer available so I called them up and the person on the phone was very good to talk to and told me bout areas in particular which people find difficult to evidence. I was just wondering however how you got on with yours? Did it pass? and if possible could I have a look at it? I just want to make sure I'm on the right track with making valid links to the competencies and providing appropriate evidence. Hope you can help!! Bhavisha =)

I'm about to start this too. Any tips appreciated. Thank you in advance

Hi, I am sat here trying to start mine too. I wish there was an example of what they are looking for. Has anyone found one?

I abandoned mine! I was doing my masters at the same time and took on too much so it never got done.

Have since left my school and am no longer doing an SLT role (so much happier!) so not looking to do it again any time soon!

I got mine done in the end - it seems funny to see my post keep coming back! My best suggestion would be don't stress too much about it! The feedback I got implied that the marker perhaps hadn't read what I'd written in as much detail as I would have liked them to... I spent hours and hours on mine, drafting and re-drafting. Friends who bashed theirs out in a weekend passed in just the same way I did. So if I did it again I'd set a strict time limit, get it as close to right as I could in that time and then submit. If they deem there to be insufficient evidence they'll tell you what you need to do. Nobody cares or knows if you pass first time or not, so why waste as much time as I did trying to make it perfect? Bang it out, stick it in and then if necessary make the changes they ask you to.

I am now writing mine up. It has been extremely tedious. In terms of time - I have spent the last couple of days on it and reckon I'm halfway through. I did leave quite a bit of it until the last minute though! I am teaching full time but am due to start a part time distance Masters in October and want this out of the way. I'm going to do my MA in Literature (my passion!) as, although I love being in education, have decided that projects centered around education are not my great love!

Meant to say - toomuchicecream - interesting about what you said about it being spot on - I do wonder how closely they look at it. I am a bit of a perfectionist however, but I also know people who did their submission very very quickly and passed!

Hi everyone,

I'm just starting my NPQSL and it has really helped reading all your messages. Does anyone have a copy or know where to find any examples of competed final assessments?

This thread has made me feel a little better about my final assessment. Due mid Sept and was seriously considering changing my dates. Have all most of the information I need just not sure how long it will take to actually complete the final part. Why oh why did I sign up for it! 🤔😃

I've been writing it up on and off for few days now. I think its quite time consuming but to be honest, although Ioved doing the project, this part seems very tedious!

This was really nice to read! I am doing the NPQSL that started before 2014 with the two tasks and I have never done anything so tricky! I went on mat leave before completing it hence having to complete it now so everything I learnt on face to face days is now a little stale. Maybe I am reading too much into it but there seems so little guidance and I am completely lost! Think I am just about there with task 1 but just getting started with task 2 and I have cracked open the wine at 3pm before I have a mental breakdown! If anyone out there has an example of task 2 please please can I have a peek? I'm losing the will to live!!

Can someone please help?

I started my NPQSL in March 2014! Since then I had a baby, injured my back and left my school.

I restarted my NPQSL in January 2016 when I started at my new school as a SENCO.

I have just attended the two elective modules having done the core ones before having my son.

I have completed my project and have booked my hand in date for Jan 2017.

But there it stops, I have no idea what I am meant to write on the form Figure 4: as it has been two years since anyone spoke to me about this.

I email people, spoke to people at the IOE when attended the modules in the summer but there never seems to be anyone to help me. I feel anxious about the whole thing, have almost quit so many times as I just don't know what I am meant to write or hand in.

I feel like I've done all the hard work and don't want to let myself down after this has been on my mind for over two years at the last hurdle.

Is there anyone who has handed theirs in got a moment to speak on the phone, email me a copy of theirs as a guide.

I really need help and would appreciate any support.

Kind regards

I'm doing the combined task

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NPQSL Final Combined Task - completed 2016

Subject: Pedagogy and professional development

Age range: Age not applicable

Resource type: Other

Last updated

17 May 2020

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This assignment includes my: blood, sweat and tears! This is my NPQSL assignment and is focused on improving writing in a primary school. I really wish I’d had an NPQSL example assignment to look at while I was writing mine as it would have stopped me second guessing myself. However, I passed with flying colours and am now offering mine to you to make the process much easier.

I uploaded the assignment on 8.2.16 and received feedback on 29.3.16. Feedback (as shown on first page) awarded all of the 9 competencies as passed at the required level. The written feedback was excellent and only includes strengths, no areas for development.

I have deleted several appendices because they included photographic evidence of specific events/individuals. I would recommend that you consider doing this also as visuals are always a nice break from a lengthy piece of text. However, I have kept my action plan and report to the Headteacher in the appendices as I feel these are important for your reference.

My resources always take me a lot of time and effort to create so I hope that they help to save you some precious time - please do review my resources. Thank you!

A section from my written feedback:

'Strengths were demonstrated in Delivering continuous improvement as your priorities for improvement were clearly linked to your vision for the project. You regularly reviewed progress and reflected on actions and achievements of pupils in writing. The Action plan and strategies were fully implemented and you skilfully monitored planning, teaching, learning and assessment data. Throughout the project you remained solution-focused. In terms of Modelling excellence in leadership of teaching and learning you demonstrated excellent leadership of teaching and learning. You set up and embedded the writing initiatives and adapted the teaching and learning approaches to suit the needs of pupils. It is evident that you have high expectations, model excellence and vision and have shared ideas and practice very effectively. Staff have been provided with the clarity they need in order to feel empowered and accountable in their role. Strengths were demonstrated in Learning focus as you set up and embedded the writing initiative and applied theory and knowledge of learning to improve outcomes for pupils. It is evident that you are committed to learning and achieving excellence and led valuable inset for staff to improve their subject knowledge in grammar, planning and writing. ’

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Gear work! <br /> Could you email fig 4 please to [email protected] <br /> Also could you send me an example of communication plan?

Empty reply does not make any sense for the end user

excellent resource, <br /> Could you email fig 4 please [email protected]

lee_daubney

Fab! Could I have fig 4 sent to [email protected]<br /> Also do you have an example communication plan?<br />

Excellent reource - please can you email me fig. 4 - [email protected]

Very useful indeed! Could you please email me figure 4? [email protected]

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