The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) is responsible for developing excellent leadership in England’s 23,000 state-maintained schools. We do this through professional development programmes, strategic initiatives, support and networking opportunities.
The College exists to serve the development needs of all school leaders – from aspiring school leaders to experienced headteachers and from school business managers to leaders of extended schools.
In 2009, an extension to our remit was announced and we will soon be delivering a new leadership development programme to support current and aspiring directors of children’s services.
NCSL is a government-funded non-departmental public body (NDPB). We receive formal notification of our targets and objectives through an annual remit letter from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. View copies of the remit letters received by the College.
NCSL’s four key goals are to:
In delivering these four goals, we work closely with school leaders and our stakeholders to ensure that they have a strong say in developing our programmes.
We’re also committed to tailoring our services to individual and local needs, while at the same time drawing on best practice from around the world so that we can remain an authoritative national voice on school leadership and management issues both to school leaders and the government.
Plans for a national college were announced in 1998. NCSL was officially launched two years later. The College is based in a purpose-built Learning and Conference Centre in Nottingham, which was opened in October 2002 by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
The College periodically reviews its provision to ensure it continues to meet the needs of school leaders. Find out more about the Review of Provision programme.