The group, the majority of whom are deputy heads who eventually hope to take on the role of headteacher, were each awarded the National Professional Qualification for Headship at a ceremony in London.

The qualification, which will eventually be a compulsory requirement for all serving headteachers, aims to provide candidates with the practical skills required to manage a school.

It was set up by the Teacher Training Agency in recognition of the gulf between classroom teaching and making decisions involving multi-million pound school budgets.

David Blunkett: "Strong link between the quality of leadership and school success"

More than 4,000 aspiring headteachers are currently taking the National Professional Qualification for Headship.

The course is designed to fit in with candidates' workloads: some will complete it in as little as two terms while others will take up to three years.

Thirty-six of the first group of successful candidates are from schools in England, with the remaining two from Wales.

Many of them received their National Professional Qualification for Headship certificates from the Education Secretary, David Blunkett.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Blunkett said: "This is not only an impressive personal achievement for those involved but also crucial in taking forward the government's agenda for raising standards in schools.

"The award of the first NPQH certificates marks the start of a comprehensive package of training to provide school leaders with the necessary skills to meet the challenging targets we have set for raising standards."

The Teacher Training Agency is also developing a training programme for experienced headteachers, which is designed to build on their existing expertise.