EA Conference 2026

Our two conference-style panels tackle two hot topics across the entire age range from primary to higher education:

• How can English support a holistic exploration of climate education and sustainability?
• How we can we work across the discipline to shape the future of English together?

You'll also have chance to network over lunch and coffee. We'll celebrate our prize- and award-winners as well as the wider eco-system of English in our brand-new lunchtime exhibition. We'll close the day with a reception with drinks and nibbles.

All attendees will receive a glossy keepsake Programme.

EA trustees and committee members are entitled to a free ticket. Email [email protected] for your discount code.

"The event was enjoyable and instructive in equal measure"

"[The Conference was] such a vibrant and enriching day. It was great, I enjoyed myself throughout, and I congratulate you and your team for continuing the upward curve of energy and positivity"

"The unpretentious, cross-sectoral vigour of the weekend’s event was really impressive"

"As someone who teaches English at higher education, it was really informative to hear about English teaching in UK schools, as many of the students I teach have been through that system."

Please note that the programme, sponsors, and speakers are subject to change.

10:00 - 10:30 Registration, refreshments, and networking

10:30 - 10:45 Welcome

10:45 – 12:15 Plenary 1: Clmiate Education and English Studies

• Chair: Dr Lorna Smith FEA, Associate Professor in Education and PGCE English Coordinator at the University of Bristol
• Dr Jo Clement, poet and Lecturer in Creative Writing at Northumbria University
• Helen Jones, Lecturer in Primary Education and module convenor for primary English within the ‘Teaching for Sustainable Futures’ at the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education
• Dr Andrea Macrae FEA, Associate Professor of Narrative at Oxford Brookes University
• Professor Deborah Myhill, Professor Emerita of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Exeter and Past President of the UK Literacy Association

In the light of the Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report (DfE, 2025)’s commitment to including climate education and sustainability (CE&S) across the curriculum, this panel will focus on the specific contribution of English studies to CE&S at all stages of compulsory education, from primary to higher. While the Report specifies the need to bolster the presence of CE&S in Science, Geography and D&T, there is no direct reference to the role of English in providing CE&S.

The panel will respond to the Report by exploring and highlight the multiple ways in which English can – and should – support a holistic exploration of CE&S for all age groups. The discussion will consider how English can provide opportunities to explore rich literature around climate change and sustainability issues; how English can support students’ understanding of the issues through critical reading of texts (both print and multi-media); and how producing texts in English enables them to respond to the issues practically, emotionally and hopefully.

12:15 – 12:45 Celebration of the new EA Fellows

12:45 – 13:45 Lunch and networking

Explore our exhibition, including the English 4-11 Picture Book Award winners, the Betty Haigh Shakespeare Prize winner, the Beatrice White Prize winner, and meet our sponsors.

13:45 – 14:15 The Chair and CEO Address

14:15 – 16:00 Plenary 2: Shaping the Future of English

• Chair: Professor Robert Eaglestone FEA, EA Lead for Cross-Sector Educational Policy and Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought, Royal Holloway, University of London
• Professor Katherine Baxter FEA, Northumbria University – Chair of the EA’s Higher Education Committee
• Matt Carnaby, curriculum and assessment lead – Chair of the EA’s Secondary and Further Education Committee
• Kirstie Hewett FEA, Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at the University of Chichester and a School Improvement Specialist with the University of Chichester Academy Trust – Chair of the EA’s Primary and Early Year’s Education Committee
• Professor Jenny Richards FEA FBA, English (2001) Chair in the Faculty of English at Cambridge University – Chair of the EA’s Board of Trustees
• Professor Tom F. Wright FEA, Head of the Department of English at the University of Sussex – the EA’s Lead for Oracy

English as a discipline is always changing: but at the moment, that change is especially challenging. The Curriculum and Assement review and new National Curriculum will force ‘evolution’ (though perhaps not ‘revolution’); the current situation of the universities is impacting how and what we teach and research. Wider societal changes like AI and the ‘post-literate age’ are discussed in the media every day. At the same time, the creative sector is booming and business is coming to recognise the importance of ‘story’. This panel, reflecting the unique range of the English Association, draws together our Primary and Early Years, Secondary and Further, and Higher Education committees, and our Leads on Oracy, Cross-Sector Educational Policy, and Skills for the Future of English to ask: how can we actively work to shape the future of our subject?

16:00 – 16:45 Refreshments and networking

16:45 – 17:15 A reading from Susannah Dickey, author of ISDAL and the winner of the 2025 Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize, plus an interview with Professor Deryn Rees-Jones, lead judge of the Prize

17:15 - 17:30 Close of Conference

17:15 – 18:15 Informal reception at Truckles, a very short walk from Senate House

Woburn Suite, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU

£70 for members; £90 for non-members.

All refreshments, lunch, and the drinks reception are included in the price.

Senate House is about ten minutes' walk away from Euston Station.

The Reception will be held at Truckles: Truckles of Pied Bull Yard, Off Bury Place, Bloomsbury, London WC1A 2JR

We’re pleased to offer our partners the opportunity to sponsor the Conference and be part of our exhibition. Please email Dr Becky Fisher, CEO of the EA, for more information: [email protected].

We’re so grateful to our sponsors for their support!

Sponsors are subject to change. Please refer to the Programme for information about our sponsors.

Headline sponsors: AQA

Sponsors: Pearson

Collins

OCR

Opening Doors

Poetry By Heart

UKLA

Voice21

Thank you to our supporters, The Royal Shakespeare Company

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Senate House, University of London, London, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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