Early Headship Coaching Offer (EHCO)
Programme overview
Our Early Headship Coaching Offer (EHCO) provides new headteachers within their first 5 years of headship with personalised support to help them solve problems relevant in their school context.
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Curriculum
The 12-month EHCO is tailored to your needs and the content covered will depend on your school's specific challenges. It is structured around the persistent problems of school leadership. You will select from these topics and personalise the course to support areas you want to develop expertise in. You will select three persistent problems over the duration of the course:
- 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.
How you will learn
Content is shared via workbooks on Ambition Institute's development platform. Participants will access one workbook for each persistent problem selected.
The workbook shares an expert edit, to build on the expertise developed in the NPQ Headship. Participants will use this knowledge-building to focus and define a context-specific problem.
This course focusses on development opportunities for you. Your context specific problem will be developed through one-to-one coaching sessions with an experienced headteacher. You will be able to shadow this headteacher, engaging in a range of activities which will help you better understand your problem and possible solutions. You will also have regular peer-group discussions with other headteachers via online conferencing, to work through work-related dilemmas.
Benefits
You will receive ongoing personal support and 1:1 coaching. You will be able to gain experience through shadowing an experienced headteacher and be able to build an effective peer network.
Cost
- See our 'NPQ costs' page for details.
- Please note, there are a limited number of funded places available for our cohorts commencing November 2025, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible.
- To check if you qualify for funding, please use Ambition Institute’s online eligibility checker tool.
- If you do not work in a school/setting that is eligible for funding, or our funded places are full, then you/your school/setting will be required to pay the course fee £899 + VAT.
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Apply
- Registrations are now open for NPQ programmes commencing November 2025. See our 'How to apply for your NPQ' page for details.
- Please note, there will be one intake only in the 2025/26 academic year; no other NPQ cohorts will be available.
Useful link
Click on the image opposite to download a copy of our programme guide or contact us for more information or guidance about this NPQ programme.