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NPQH cancellation policy

This information sets out the National College's policy for National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) withdrawals and deferrals, as well as the cancellation fees that may be invoked if you withdraw or defer from the programme without an acceptable reason.

NPQH withdrawals and deferrals are expected to take place under exceptional circumstances only.

1 Withdrawal

1.1 Withdrawal requests

If you decide that you are no longer aiming for headship, you may wish to withdraw from NPQH.

If you are an applicant or trainee headteacher and decide to withdraw, you should inform the relevant NPQH centre (Entry, Development or Graduation, depending on the stage of the programme with which you are engaged). The centre will arrange for you and the centre leader to discuss the situation. Should withdrawal remain your preferred option, the centre will ask you to complete a brief withdrawal form, which will then be submitted to the National College. You will not be reimbursed for any programme fees already committed.

1.2 Centre withdrawals

Under certain circumstances, an NPQH centre may withdraw a trainee headteacher from NPQH. This may take place if:

• you fail to attend the two-day entry assessment and development event, introductory day or graduation board without a valid reason for deferral
• you fail to complete NPQH within the maximum 12-month timeframe without a valid reason for deferral
• you do not responded to more than three contact attempts by the centre

In such cases, the centre will document the withdrawal and submit this to the National College.

1.3 Re-application after withdrawal

If you have previously withdrawn, or been withdrawn, from NPQH, you will need to reapply in order to re-gain a place on the programme.

If you have previously withdrawn from NPQH and are successful in reapplying at a later date, the National College funding may be withheld in the second instance.

2 Deferral

2.1 Medium to long-term deferrals

Deferral within NPQH should only take place under exceptional circumstances. Valid reasons for deferral are as follows:

• you are taking maternity leave
• you are experiencing long-term sickness, which makes you unable to complete the programme within the maximum 12-month time limit
• you are experiencing family sickness or bereavement, which requires you to take time off work, and makes you unable to complete the programme within the maximum 12-month time limit

If you request a deferral due to one of the above the reasons, you should contact the relevant NPQH centre (Entry, Development or Graduation, depending on the stage of the programme with which you are engaged). The centre will arrange for you and the centre leader to discuss the situation. Should a deferral be appropriate, you will be asked to complete a brief deferral form and to provide a medical certificate if appropriate. The centre will then submit this documentation to the National College for approval. The centre will discuss and agree with you a suitable time to return to NPQH. The centre may agree to provide you with additional support at the time of rejoining, for example, the opportunity for a 'return' discussion with a centre leader or coach.

If you are on the Development Stage, your 12-month timeline will be halted at the point of deferral and will resume when you rejoin the programme. For example, if you have been on NPQH for five months at the point of deferral, you would have a maximum seven months after rejoining NPQH in which to complete the programme.

2.2 Short-term deferrals

In addition to the above, there will be some exceptional circumstances in which you may request (or the NPQH centre may need to enact) a short-term deferral within the programme. Valid reasons for short term deferrals are as follows.

• A short-notice Ofsted inspection, which prevents you from attending the two-day entry event, the introductory day or the graduation board.
• An illness or family bereavement, which prevents you from attending the two-day entry assessment and development event, the introductory day or the graduation board.

If you request a deferral due to one of the above the reasons, you should contact the relevant NPQH centre (Entry, Development or Graduation, depending on the stage of the programme with which you are engaged). The centre will arrange for you and the centre leader to discuss the situation.

The centre will make every effort to reschedule the two-day entry event, introductory day or graduation board within the same time window. However, they cannot guarantee this. You may, therefore, be required to defer to a later window, which may mean undertaking the event up to six months later, depending on availability. Should a short-term deferral be appropriate, you will be asked to complete a brief deferral form, and to provide a medical certificate if appropriate. The centre will then submit this documentation to the National College for approval.

2.3 Invalid reasons for deferral

NPQH is flexible and personalised, and allows you to schedule the majority of activity to suit your circumstances. In addition, it is a relatively short programme, with trainee heads completing within 4 to 12 months. For these reasons, deferrals are expected to take place only in exceptional circumstances.

The following are not considered to be valid reasons for deferral.

• Ofsted inspections or short-term sickness at any time other than the two-day entry event, the introductory day or the graduation board.
• A change of role or employer.
• Your level of workload in current role.

If an individual has an invalid reason for not attending a key programme event, cancellation fees may be invoked (please see section 4 below).

2.4 Deferral reasons not covered in this policy

If your reasons for deferral are not covered by this policy, you should contact your relevant NPQH centre to discuss the circumstances.

3. Capability issues

You must inform your NPQH centre of any change in circumstance that might disqualify you from becoming a headteacher, or of any capability issues or disciplinary actions of which you are the subject. If you fail to do this, your progress on NPQH may be halted.

4. Retakes

If you are unsuccessful at the two-day entry event or graduation board, and you wish to retake that element of the programme, an opportunity for this retake will be scheduled at a later date. In these circumstances, following provision of feedback, your NPQH centre will contact you to discuss an appropriate time for the retake.

You may only take the two-day entry event or the graduation board a maximum of three times (ie the first attempt and two retakes). If you are not successful after three attempts, you will be withdrawn from the programme. Should you wish to undertake the programme again at a later point, you would need to reapply for NPQH.

5. Cancellation of coaching time

If you have booked time with your NPQH coach and subsequently cancel the session without a valid reason, this session may not be rescheduled and you will lose this coaching time from your 7-hour allocation.

Valid reasons for cancelling coaching sessions are as follows.

• A short-notice Ofsted inspection, which prevents you from attending the coaching session.
• An illness or family bereavement, which prevents you from attending the coaching session - you may be asked to provide a medical certificate if appropriate.

6. Cancellation fees

Should you fail to attend a specific NPQH event without a valid reason for deferral (see section 2.2 above), cancellation fees may be invoked. The table below sets out the applicable cancellation fees.

Event not attended	7 days or fewer before the event	8 to 14 days before the event	15 to 28 days before the event
Two-day entry assessment and development event	£500	£300	£100
Regional introductory day	£100	£75	£50
Face-to-face development days/workshops/seminars - these may be charged or, alternatively, you may not be able to attend another event without being charged	£150	£100	£75
Graduation board	A firm booking for a graduation board place is made seven weeks before the board is due to take place. A cancellation fee is payable if you cancel your attendance at any point without a valid reason. The graduation centre may cancel if you fail to complete and submit all the necessary proformas to the panel in accordance with the required timelines. Within 3 weeks of the panel - £395 Within 5 weeks of the panel - £320 Within 7 weeks of the panel - £260

The appropriate cancellation fee will be invoiced directly to you. You will be personally liable for paying the cancellation fee unless your headteacher or line manager informs the appropriate centre that the school/organisation may be invoiced. Non payment of any such costs may result in your withdrawal from the programme.

If you have not paid any cancellation charges to the appropriate centre, you will not be permitted to present for graduation.

Please note that by participating in the programme, you are agreeing to these charges.