Course overview

Our Early Headship Coaching Offer is a course which offers the opportunity for new headteachers to work with an experienced colleague to face the challenges that early headship can bring.

The content can be tailored to your needs in response to the challenges you are facing. Each term you will choose a persistent problem of school leadership to focus on.

Over the duration of the course you will focus on three persistent problems, choosing from:

School culture: Establishing a professional and supportive school culture and encouraging staff to contribute.
Learning and development: Ensuring effective approaches to professional learning and development.
Curriculum: Organising and teaching the curriculum.
Behaviour: Attending to pupil behaviour and wider circumstances.
School improvement: Analysing and diagnosing problems, planning and implementing strategies for continuous educational improvement.
Administration: Managing an efficient and effective organisation.

The persistent problems you select will guide and inform your inputs, which are:

Coaching with an expert leader,
a school visit to a relevant setting,
an online community to connect with your peers.

These inputs are designed to help you overcome challenges in your setting.

How you'll learn

Content is shared via workbooks situated on our online development platform participants will access on workbook for each persistent problem they select.

The workbook shares an expert edit, to build on the expertise developed in the NPQH. Participants will use this knowledge building to focus and define a context-specific problem.

This course focuses on developmental opportunities for you. Your context specific problem will be developed through one-to-one coaching sessions with an experienced headteacher.

You’ll be able to shadow the expert headteacher, engaging in a range of activities which will help you to better understand your problem and possible solutions. You will also have regular peer-group discussions with other headteachers via online video conferencing, to work through work-related dilemmas.

Note: programme content is subject to change.

Why train with Ambition?

Choose our Early Headship Coaching Offer and you’ll be joining over 35,000 teachers and school leaders (as of May 2025), who have decided on Ambition to complete their NPQ since they were launched in 2021.

Our EHCO provides you with tailored, personalised support to apply knowledge from the NPQH to your school context.

We have designed this support offer for new headteachers to accompany the NPQ in Headship, to help you put the evidence and expertise from your NPQH into practice in your school setting.

Benefit from expert guidance
Over three terms, you'll receive guidance from an experienced, serving headteacher who works in a similar setting or phase, to help you apply expertise from the NPQH, to overcome the challenges and complex problems you face in your day-to-day role.

Train to your timetable
Our 'little and often' approach often means you can engage with the EHCO around your busy timetable, with minimal time needed out of school.

No assessment
There is no formal assessment for the EHCO. So, you can focus entirely on practically applying your learning.

Join our charitable mission
We support teachers and school leaders at every stage of their careers, helping them to keep getting better. We are a charity providing training and professional development based on the most rigorous research and evidence about what really works.

Benefits for you

Get ongoing personal support
Being new to a headship role can be daunting. The EHCO will help you to find your feet by identifying your priorities and looking at structured, practical ways to tackle context specific problems.

Receive one-to-one coaching
You’ll get one-to-one coaching from an expert Headteacher who can provide support, insight and feedback to help you deal with the specific challenges you’re facing in your school.

School shadowing experience
Contextualise your NPQH expertise in a real school setting by shadowing an experienced headteacher. Your coach will explain the steps they have undertaken, their rationale, and any obstacles they have overcome in their school, supporting you to understand how they have applied expertise to their practice.

Build your network
You’ll also gain an effective peer community with a small group of headteachers facing similar challenges as you, providing a network that lasts long after you’ve completed the EHCO. These online sessions will explore the common challenges you are experiencing and help you overcome them.

Benefits for your school or trust

Improve staff retention
An investment in your new headteacher shows your commitment to their career progression and job satisfaction. This means they’ll be more likely to stay in their post and become an effective leader.

Learn from experts
Your headteacher will receive one-to-one coaching and support from an experienced headteacher who will share their knowledge and professional insight.

Tackle existing challenges
Coaching and shadowing will focus on applying expertise from the NPQH to the problems your headteacher might be experiencing in their role. They will be guided by expert coaches to arrive at effective solutions to tackle the problems they face in their school.

Create a positive school culture
A headteacher that feels supported and has the training and tools to create positive change, will lead to a happier workforce, better teaching and more positive outcomes for your pupils.

Am I eligible?

You can take advantage of the Early Headship Coaching Offer at the same time as doing the new NPQ for Headship.

New headteachers are suitable for this targeted support package if you meet all these criteria:

are in your first five years of headship
have previously completed an NPQH, are applying for an NPQH, or are currently doing an NPQH with us or another NPQ provider.

We find that the headteachers who benefit most from this programme are those who clearly communicate with their trust/school that they will need some fixed time to complete EHCO activities.

If you have any questions, email [email protected] and a member of our team will be in touch with next steps.

How much does it cost?

For Autumn 2026, all applicants from state-funded schools in England are eligible for a fully funded place on the Early Headship Coaching Offer.

In your first five years of headship.
Have previously completed an NPQH, are applying for an NPQH, or are currently doing an NPQH with us or another NPQ provider.
Work in a state funded school in England.

Check if you’re eligible!
If you're unsure whether you will qualify for funding, please use our online eligibility check tool.

If you don't work in an eligible school, the Early Headship Coaching Offer costs £800 plus VAT.

Get in touch to find out more here.

*Currently nurseries are not available yet on the tool. If you work in a nursery, please contact us directly at [email protected]

Where can I train?

Join a local cohort with one of our regional partners and benefit from our expert curriculum design along with a tailored experience linked to your local context.

If you are unable to find a local cohort, you can join Ambition’s national cohort and gain a national network of peers. Either way, we work to give you the best possible experience.

Find a cohort that’s local to you in our list of partners here.

What our partners can do for you

Ambition Institute provides high-quality content and materials, built on our experience in schools and other learning environments, and our deep knowledge of evidence and practice.

Our partner in your region will put this knowledge into context and manage your experience on the programme, from facilitation to day-to-day support.

The timings and methods of activity, sizes of cohorts and the cost of the programme may vary across delivery partners.

How do I apply?

Applications are now open for November 2026. Start your application here >>

DfE registration: Until you've completed a DfE registration, available from 23 June 2026, your registration and funding will not be confirmed. You can now register here.

If you have any questions, email [email protected] and a member of our team will be in touch with next steps.

What do our participants say?

We’re proud to be the largest provider of NPQs in England.

As an education charity, this helps our mission to support more teachers and school leaders serving children from disadvantaged backgrounds to keep getting better.

From our recent participant survey*, we heard that:

94% of participants agreed that their Ambition NPQ had helped them to develop their expertise as a school leader.
92% of participants agreed that as a result of their Ambition NPQ, they felt better equipped to carry out their current role.
93% of leaders agreed that staff completing an Ambition NPQ had supported their school to improve.

You can read more about what our NPQ participants have said here >>

*taken from our 2025 NPQ participant surveys.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the EHCO programme for?

Who is the EHCO programme for?
The Early Headship Coaching Offer is designed for new headteachers in the first five years of their role and are currently on, have completed, or applying for an NPQ in Headship.

How long does the EHCO programme last?

The Early Headship Coaching Offer is a 12 month programme, with a mixture of live, facilitated sessions and self-directed learning.The Early Headship Coaching Offer is a 12 month programme, with a mixture of live, facilitated sessions and self-directed learning.

Is the EHCO fully funded?

Is the EHCO fully funded? The Early Headship Coaching Offer is fully funded for teachers and school leaders who work in eligible schools and organisations in England, by the Department for Education. Find out more about the eligibility criteria in the 'Funding' tab.

How does the EHCO programme accommodate busy schedules?

The Early Headship Coaching Offer is designed to fit around your schedule with a 'little and often' approach that aligns with insights from the science of learning.The Early Headship Coaching Offer is designed to fit around your schedule with a 'little and often' approach that aligns with insights from the science of learning.

Are there any specific requirements to enrol on the EHCO programme?

Are there any specific requirements to enrol on the EHCO programme?
To be eligible for the Early Headship Coaching Offer, you must be a serving teacher in a school or organisation in England and have completed your early careers training.

Early Headship Coaching Offer for new headteachers (EHCO)