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Professional development for existing and aspiring academy leaders

We have a number of professional development opportunities available to existing academy leaders as well as those who aspire to leadership roles in academies in the future.

Associate Academy Principal Programme

This programme is for academy vice principals and deputy headteachers looking to develop the skills and confidence to take on the role of principal. Taking place over an academic year, the programme is centred around six, two-day, face-to-face development sessions, a placement in an academy and mentoring sessions.

Middle Leadership Development Programme

The Middle Leadership Development Programme involves groups of schools and academies running their own middle leadership development programmes with National College support and materials. The initial pilot included two all-academy groups and two groups combining academies with other schools. Following the recent expansion of the programme, there are a further 20 groups planning to incorporate academies and nine led by academies.

National and local leaders of education

Both the National Leaders of Education and National Support Schools Programme and the Local Leaders of Education Programme draw upon the skills and experience of our very best school and academy leaders, as well as their schools or academies, to provide additional leadership capacity to, and raise standards within, schools facing challenging circumstances.

CIPFA Accredited Certificate in Financial Reporting for Academies

This programme provides the knowledge and skills required to carry out a key role in academy financial management. Completed in 8–12 weeks, the programme comprises online modules which are supported by an optional one-day face-to-face workshop.

Relevant resources

We also have a range of resources about leading an academy, including case studies and videos.