HELOA National Conference 2027 Full Programme

Andy Speed | Head of Business Development | Student CRM

Student recruitment activity often spans Outreach, Marketing, Events and Admissions, but the information gathered can remain fragmented across teams, systems and spreadsheets. This makes it difficult to understand the complete student journey, demonstrate the impact of activity and ensure that valuable engagement leads to meaningful follow-up.

This interactive workshop will explore how institutions can move away from simply delivering activity to making better use of the information gathered, connecting it across the student journey and, most importantly, turning it into meaningful action. We will consider how CRM systems can support timely communications, relevant event invitations, personalised follow-up and clearer ownership across teams, without creating unnecessary administration.

Delegates will leave with a practical framework for deciding what information to capture, how to turn insight into action and how to evidence whether recruitment activity is genuinely influencing student progression.

Key Takeaways:

• Identify where useful recruitment information is currently being lost, duplicated or disconnected
• Decide what information is worth capturing and why
• Connect individual activities to the wider student journey
• Define meaningful next actions and clearer ownership across teams
• Consider how to evidence the influence of recruitment activity on student progression

Nathan Monk | Co-founder of Prospectus Plus | Prospectus Plus

Is the printed prospectus still fit for purpose, or has it become an expensive habit that student recruitment teams are reluctant to break?

In this interactive courtroom-style session, print will face the evidence. We will examine cost, sustainability, student expectations, accessibility, personalisation and the challenge of proving impact. But the defence will also make its case, exploring where print still creates value, supports conversations and reaches audiences that digital alone may miss.

With the audience acting as the jury, we will test the assumptions behind both print and digital prospectuses, challenge the idea that one format can do every job, and consider what a more effective, evidence-led approach could look like.

By the end of the session, the jury will decide whether print should remain at the heart of student recruitment, be sentenced to a supporting role, or be phased out altogether.

Key takeaways:

• Evaluate whether print is earning its place using evidence rather than institutional habit
• Decide which recruitment tasks belong to print, digital or a deliberately blended journey
• Identify practical ways to measure impact, improve accessibility and reduce unnecessary cost and waste

Speaker TBC

As widening participation teams face increasing pressure to demonstrate impact, practitioners need practical approaches to designing, delivering and evaluating effective interventions. Drawing on The Brilliant Club’s experience of supporting young people through programmes focused on attainment, access, transition and student success, this workshop will explore how research and evidence can be translated into everyday practice.

Delegates will work through real-world challenges, learn how to triangulate data and evidence effectively, and leave with practical tools that can be immediately applied in their own context. The session will be highly interactive, with opportunities for discussion, peer learning and action planning.

Key Takeaways:

• Identify the key principles of research-led WP practice
• Learn to practice effective triangulation in evaluation
• Identify one change they will make to strengthen impact within their own widening participation practice

Claire Forsman | Head of Undergraduate Recruitment & Outreach (UK) | University of Edinburgh

Heather Black | Senior Recruitment Officer | University of Strathclyde

Open Days are usually a University’s flagship recruitment event – high profile, attracting thousands of visitors and involving many staff. But what happens when things don’t quite go to plan….?!

Claire Forsman (University of Edinburgh) and Heather Black (University of Strathclyde) have more than 20 years of experience of organising Open Days between them – and have had more than their fair share of unexpected dramas and mini disasters in that time ! Academics on strike? Ceiling collapses? Hollywood movies causing chaos? …

In this interactive workshop, they will share some of these experiences – and what they learnt from them – and encourage the audience to provide their insights and near-misses to help anyone involved in running an Open Day feel better prepared should the unexpected happen.

Key Takeaways:

• Feel more confident planning for, and dealing with, the unexpected at Open Days

Eleanor Ball | Senior Access and Participation Officer | Arts University Bournemouth

The session will cover the unique activity and approach AUB takes to supporting care experienced and estranged students, from awareness of AUB right through to graduation. The strategic thinking and planning behind the student lifecycle activity will be shared, including the Theory of Change and Progression Framework that underpins the work. 

Key Takeaways:

• A whole student life cycle approach to supporting care-experience and estranged students
• Using Theory of Change and Progressions Framework to define outcomes, map interventions, and evaluate activities
• Institution-wide commitment to successfully support care-experience and estranged students

An informal opportunity to connect with colleagues, share experiences and discuss the opportunities and challenges facing postgraduate recruitment and outreach.

Key Takeaways:

• New ideas and insights from peers working across the postgraduate landscape

Jonny Atkinson-White | Customer Success Executive | Gecko

You’re probably already collecting more data than you have time to make sense of, applications, event attendance, engagement history- and it usually ends up as a spreadsheet that doesn’t do justice to the work or insight involved. This session is about closing that gap.

We’ll cover what AI agents actually are and where they genuinely help with the repeatable parts of your role, with hands-on focus on data: taking the numbers you already have and using AI to turn them into something visual and easy to read, summaries you’d actually want to show your boss, not just another export.

Bring your own device and example data set if available. You’ll leave with a clearer sense of where AI is worth your time.

Key Takeaways:

• How to turn raw data into something visual and easy to read. Practical ways to get AI to summarise and present the numbers you already collect, so it’s something people actually engage with, not just a spreadsheet
• What AI agents actually are, and where they fit. A clear, non-technical explanation of agentic AI and the kinds of repeatable tasks it’s suited to in a recruitment or outreach role, without needing to build one yourself in the room
• A working example, built from your own numbers. Not a template, something you build live using a real (safe) data set from your own role
• One thing to try the following week. A specific, low-effort next step to keep the momentum going after the session

Jon Cheek | Founder and Director | UniTasterDays

This high-energy session will help you refresh and rethink your presentation skills for 2027 and beyond. You’ll gain 10 powerful practices to consider before, during, and after you enter the classroom (or boardroom). In doing so, your sessions will be memorable, valuable, and accessible for students from all backgrounds.

Key Takeaways:

• Tools and tactics to adopt before, during, and after every classroom session
• Exploration of negativity, physicality, voice, empathy, and mindfulness
• Ways to bring your best (and whole) self to your school workshops

Vicky Bannerman | UK Recruitment Manager – University of Strathclyde | HELOA Scotland Chair

Katie Marshall-Gamston | Student Recruitment Manager – Prifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd / Cardiff Metropolitan University | HELOA Wales Chair

Join us for this interactive session to learn about the qualifications and HE systems in Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland as well as an insight into the student finance differences. Myths will be busted, prizes to be won, no Welsh nor Gaelic/Gaeilge required!

Key Takeaways:

• Insight into Education within the devolved nations of the UK

Nicola Kennedy | Senior Outreach Officer – Schools | Edinburgh Napier University

In 2023, I stepped into my first management role and, almost overnight, found myself managing people who had previously been my peers. The shift was both exciting and unsettling, relationships suddenly felt different, expectations changed, and I had to learn how to lead while still finding my way in a new role.

The session will offer a reflective account of the first 90 days in that transition. It explores the emotional and practical realities of becoming a manager, including navigating awkward conversations, redefining boundaries, managing imposter syndrome, and learning when to step forward as a leader and when to listen. Rather than presenting a “how‑to” guide, the session shares honest reflections, mistakes, and lessons learned along the way. I hope to also include some honest accounts from my own staff who also had to adapt to me being their manager!

Aimed at those considering management or newly in post, this session creates space to acknowledge that the transition from peer to manager is rarely straightforward and that uncertainty, reflection, and growth are all part of the process.

Key Takeaways:

• New manager tips/tricks
• Navigating being a people manager in HE
• Imposter syndrome
• Reflections

Avtarnika Sharma | Marketing and Recruitment Coordinator | The University of Manchester

Can a relaxed, low-cost event really change how students think about postgraduate study? This session will share how The University of Manchester’s award-winning PhD Café grew from a small faculty pilot into a model adopted across the university. Using familiar campus spaces, existing communication channels and honest conversations with current postgraduate students, it helped make postgraduate study feel more open, relevant and achievable.

The session will explore how universities can treat current undergraduate students as a key postgraduate audience, begin those conversations from first year and place student voice at the heart of recruitment. Delegates will hear practical lessons on event design, promotion, supporting student ambassadors, evaluation and follow-up. It will also show how an informal initiative can support applications, offers and enrolments, and how the same principles could be adapted for both postgraduate taught and postgraduate research recruitment.

Key Takeaways:

• How to turn authentic student voice into a credible, scalable and influential postgraduate recruitment tool

Speaker details TBC | Unifrog

Choosing a university is a significant decision for students – but it is rarely a decision they make alone. Parents and carers can play an important role in shaping perceptions, priorities and ultimately where a young person decides to study. In this session hear directly from parents and carers of sixth-form-aged students about their experiences of supporting university decision-making.

In this honest and practical panel discussion, hosted by Unifrog, where they will be sharing results from a survey of over 1,000 parents, and then hearing directly from some of those parents live! The panel will explore what information they valued, what influenced their conversations at home, how they navigated competing priorities and how universities can better support the wider decision-making network around a prospective student.

The session will provide insight into the questions parents (and their young people) are asking, the factors that matter most when comparing universities, and where there may be gaps between what institutions communicate and what families actually need to make informed decisions.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand what parents really consider when supporting a young person choosing a university
• Hear first-hand insight into the university decision-making journey, including the questions, concerns and priorities that arise at home
• Explore the influence of parents and carers on factors such as location, cost, accommodation, student experience, employability, and university reputation

Mark Bennett | Global Director – Market Insight & Data at Keystone Education Group | FindAUniversity

Drawing on FindAUniversity’s unique cross-section of postgraduate search and survey data, alongside published enrolment benchmarks, this session will take an honest look at the landscape for postgraduate taught recruitment in the coming year. We’ll look at who prospective postgraduate students are, what’s driving and blocking them, what they say about further study and what that might mean for the professionals supporting and engaging them. Suitable for new practitioners as well as those looking to stay on top of data trends, we’ll cover key issues such as funding, visa requirements and upcoming policy changes.

Key Takeaways:

• Take stock of current PGT enrolment and search trends
• Identify key challenges facing prospective domestic and international PGT audiences
• Understand how audiences perceive and respond to these challenges

Declan Sweeney | Co-founder: CampusConnect | CampusConnect

Dan Hinkley | Co-founder: CampusConnect | CampusConnect

James Seymour | Adviser to CampusConnect | CMEO at Lincoln Bishop University

With the UCAS application deadline having just passed, thousands of
prospective students will now be moving from asking ‘What are my options?’ to much more
important questions: ‘Where do I belong?’ and ‘where is my tribe?’
This session explores how universities can use genuine peer-to-peer engagement to help answer that question, moving beyond simply having a bank of student ambassadors to creating meaningful conversations and connections that build belonging, trust and, ultimately, conversion.
Drawing on CampusConnect’s research, sector insights and experience working with UK
universities over the last 11 years, our speakers will share what they have learned about what makes peer-to-peer engagement genuinely impactful (and what does not). We will explore the balance between student authenticity and institutional recruitment objectives, how universities can create communities that feel genuinely effective rather than vanilla, and how to measure both engagement and outcomes.
We will also ask what ‘authenticity’ means when AI can generate seemingly personalised and
student-like content at scale. What is the value of a real student talking honestly to another student when prospective students are surrounded by increasingly polished digital content?
Finally, we will look briefly beyond the UK to the Republic of Ireland, considering whether there are lessons that UK universities could learn from a different higher education recruitment environment.
This will be a practical and reflective session, combining research and insight with real-world
lessons and an interactive exercise that delegates can apply to their own student ambassador,
conversion and applicant engagement strategies.

Key Takeaways:

• Explore how universities can move beyond traditional ambassador programmes towards meaningful, scalable, peer-to-peer engagement
• Understand what CampusConnect has learned from real student-to-student interactions across university communities.
• Examine how peer-to-peer engagement can build belonging and trust while also supporting recruitment and conversion objectives.
• Consider the ethical and practical balance between authentic student voice and
  institutional/commercial recruitment goals
• Discuss what makes student-to-student interaction genuinely authentic in an age of AI-generated content and “AI slop”
• Identify useful lessons from the Republic of Ireland that could inform UK practice
• Leave with practical ideas for strengthening peer-to-peer engagement at key points in the applicant journey, particularly after the UCAS deadline.

Oliver Speke | Senior England Recruitment Officer (Midlands) | Prifysgol Bangor / Bangor University

Joshua Barnett | Head of School and College Partnerships (Midlands & the North) | Falmouth University

This session aims to help you to understand what regional means in the context of your role, and recognise the unique differences between university regions.

We will address some of the common challenges facing regional representatives, and work together to develop a strategic approach to your role, learn practical techniques for time management, and maintaining wellbeing.

Key Takeaways:

• Develop an understanding of how universities’ regions differ
• How to be confident and successful in a regional role

What does a career in higher education look like beyond the beige buffet? Join our panel for an honest and insightful conversation about the diverse careers, organisations and opportunities across the wider higher education sector. Hear from professionals who have built careers outside traditional university roles, discover where the opportunities are, and get practical advice on navigating your own career journey.

Key Takeaways:

• Discover the wider higher-education ecosystem
• Learn how your skills translate beyond traditional roles
• Get real, practical advice from people who have made the leap

Speaker info TBC | UCAS

What makes a UCAS event memorable and influential for prospective students? Drawing on recent student feedback from UCAS events, this session explores the factors that have the greatest impact on engagement and decision-making. While stand design and giveaways can attract attention, students consistently highlight the value of meaningful conversations, knowledgeable staff and approachable ambassadors in helping them make informed choices about their future.

This session will share key insights into what students value most from exhibitors and provide practical recommendations on how institutions can create more effective, student-centred event experiences that drive engagement and support recruitment objectives.

Key Takeaways:

• Key insights in to what students value the most from exhibitors at recruitment fairs
• Practical recommendations on creating more effective, student-centred experiences which drives engagement and supports student recruitment

Kim Chadwick-Reaney | Deputy Director Marketing & Recruitment | Middlesex University London

Competition doesn’t have to come at the expense of collaboration. Discover how universities worked together through UniConnect and beyond to align widening participation and recruitment priorities, improve access for underrepresented learners, strengthen recruitment pipelines, and shape a more collaborative approach to Access and Participation Plans.

Key Takeaways:

• Practical ideas for turning cross-institution relationships into strategic partnerships

Sarra Jenkins | Director of Future Pathways | PeaPod

Do students really choose their course and university — or are they quietly reproducing values they’ve inherited from home?
Drawing on original MA research using a novel ‘diamond 9’ ranking, this session explores whether the values young people hold when making HE decisions are transmitted from their parents within a shared habitus. The findings show clear patterns: students from HE-experienced, higher-income, and higher-participation communities lean towards ‘hot’ values, while those from lower-SES and lower-participation backgrounds prioritise ‘cold’ values.
If parental habitus shapes the values students hold before we’ve even met them, then generic outreach and one-size-fits-all information provision won’t cut through. This session will unpack what the data shows, and what practical changes CEIAG practitioners and HEIs can make: from how we frame open days and summer schools, to how (and whether) we engage parents as partners in the decision, not bystanders to it.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand which of your target students respond to ‘hot’ information versus ‘cold’ information and audit your outreach materials to check you’re leading with the right one for each audience
• Build a distinct parent engagement strand into WP programmes, specifically for parents without HE experience, focused on updating their picture of cost, outcomes, and process, since their assumptions become their child’s assumptions

Sander de Groot | Director and Head of Training | MADE Training

This session will focus on effective communication strategies, including how to expertly open and close a session, segue between topics and how to use powerful language patterns to anchor key messages.

Key Takeaways:

• Practical trainer techniques that will help you present with greater confidence and ease, so you can focus less on what to say next and more on connecting naturally with your audience

Carol Castle | Director of Student Recruitment, Access and Admissions – Sheffield Hallam University | CEO – Carol Castle Coaching & Consulting

Nicki Marsden | Speaker bio TBC

Change in higher education isn’t slowing – and neither is the pressure on the people delivering it. This energising, practical session gives delegates the confidence and capability to lead through uncertainty while protecting their wellbeing and sustaining their impact.

Drawing on real senior-level HE experiences and advanced coaching practice, your facilitators create a space to explore how to stay steady, influential and well when the stakes are high.

What participants will gain

• Tools for sustainable leadership they can apply immediately back at work
• Confidence to lead through ambiguity without absorbing all the pressure
• Practical wellbeing strategies that support resilience during restructures, deadlines and shifting priorities
• Clarity on personal pressure patterns and how to stay effective under strain
• Techniques to influence and communicate in ways that reduce anxiety for themselves and their teams

Why this session matters
Because delivering change well requires more than process – it requires leaders who can hold nerve, maintain perspective and stay well enough to lead others well.

Key Takeaways:

• How to lead hard change without using your clarity, confidence, or yourself

Join colleagues for an open discussion on the opportunities and challenges in widening participation and student recruitment at the moment, sharing experiences and approaches from across the sector.

Key Takeaways:

• A broader understanding of how peers are balancing institutional priorities and student outcomes.

Adam Molloy | Head of Marketing | The Student Room

How do today’s applicants actually decide where to study? The path is no longer linear — it winds through TikTok, Reddit-style forums, AI chatbots, league tables, open days and peer conversations, often all at once. Drawing on The Student Room’s market analysis and real behavioural data from the UK’s largest online student community, this session maps the fragmented, multi-source journey students take when researching universities. You’ll leave with a clear, evidence-based picture of which channels influence decisions at each stage — and practical ways to make sure your institution shows up where it matters most.

Key Takeaways:

• A data-driven understanding of where and how prospective students research universities, enabling institutions to engage more effectively across the channels that influence choice
• Practical advice on ways to make sure your institution shows up where it matters most

Sammie Fletcher | Funding Information Services Account Manager | Student Loans Company

Stephen Jones | Funding Information Services Account Manager | Student Loans Company

Tom Allingham | Communications Director | Save The Student

Student funding and financial pressures continue to be important considerations for students when making decisions about higher education. With changes to the student funding landscape, including the introduction of Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), there is plenty for practitioners to keep up with.
This joint session from the Student Loans Company and Save the Student will explore the changing student funding landscape and the realities of student finances and budgeting as we move into 2027.
The session will consider what the changing funding environment means for students, alongside some of the financial challenges and considerations facing students today. It will provide insight from both organisations and an opportunity for practitioners to reflect on how we can support students to better understand their funding and manage their finances.

Key Takeaways:

• An overview of the changing student funding and finance landscape
• Insight into student perspectives and experiences of funding and budgeting
• Considerations for practitioners supporting students with questions around finance and affordability
• Practical insights and ideas to take back to your own work

Amy Newton | Student Recruitment and Outreach Manager | Teeside University

With more students choosing to commute to university, this interactive workshop will explore what defines a commuter student, the opportunities and challenges facing them and their needs. Through discussion and shared reflection, delegates will consider how communications, events and engagement strategies can be adapted to better support this growing student population.

Key Takeaways:

• Explore practical approaches to better attract, engage and support commuter students throughout their higher education journey

Anisha Parmar | Regional Manager: The Americas, Central Asia, Europe and UK International | Aston University

An insight into what international student recruitment is like, the myths and reality of working in the dark side of student recruitment.

Key Takeaways:

• Enable the audience to make an informed choice to understand if this is something they wish to explore as part of their career within student recruitment
• Knowledge on international student recruitment – images of great food and sunsets!

Alex Whitman | Student Recruitment Officer (First Generation) | Manchester Metropolitan University

Rhian Evans | Student Recruitment Manager | Prifysgol Abertawe / Swansea University

What does it take to deliver a successful Clearing operation? Swansea University and Manchester Metropolitan University will share how they prepare for and manage the demands of Clearing, including approaches, challenges and lessons learned along the way.

This is a collaborative session, with plenty of opportunity for delegates to share their own approaches, swap ideas and take away examples of best practice from others.

Key Takeaways:

• Practical Clearing examples and ideas from two different institutions
• Best practice shared by colleagues across the sector

A space for managers and aspiring leaders to exchange ideas, discuss common challenges and learn from each other’s experiences in leading teams and projects.

Key Takeaways:

• Practical insights
• Fresh perspectives
• Stronger professional network