SUMS Annual Conference 2027

From reinvention to reality

Wednesday 10 February 2027, 9:30 - 16:30 (drinks reception to follow from 16:30 - 17:30)

The uncomfortable truth is that higher education, as we know it, is running out of road.

Universities are facing sustained financial pressure, changing student expectations and growing demands for transformation. Incremental change is no longer enough. Institutions now face a critical choice: preserve inherited models until they fail or use this moment as a catalyst for fundamental redesign.

The SUMS Consulting Annual Conference 2027 will bring together higher education leaders from across the sector to explore what comes next.

This is not a conference about simply coping with challenge. It’s about agency, leadership and deliberate design. It will ask how institutions can keep the lights on today while building a more sustainable and successful future.

Together, we’ll examine:

• what universities could look like if they were designed from first principles
• what higher education can learn from organisations that have successfully reinvented themselves
• what needs to change culturally, operationally and structurally
• how institutions can balance immediate sustainability with long-term transformation
• how leaders can create practical, owned roadmaps for change, rather than waiting for external solutions.

The conference is designed to challenge established thinking while equipping SUMS members with practical ideas, evidence and actions they can take back to their institutions.

Event venue & nearby stays

Woburn House Conference Centre, Tavistock Square, London, United Kingdom

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

Get the app →

Discover more events by tag