Conference Information 2026

Conference Information

Join the national conversation around the education estate!

The Education Estates® Conference is the UK's leading forum for everyone involved in the planning, funding, design, construction, maintenance and management of education environments. Across two days, the programme features 36+ sessions, alongside keynote presentations from influential figures across education, government and industry.

With more than 170 expert speakers appearing across 6 dedicated stages, the conference provides valuable insight into the latest policy developments, sustainability priorities, estate strategies, capital investment and project delivery. Every session is CPD-accredited and carefully curated by the Education Estates® Advisory Group to ensure content is relevant, practical and focused on the challenges facing the sector today.

The conference offers an unrivalled opportunity to learn from sector leaders, share best practice and gain fresh perspectives on creating effective learning environments.

Register your place

Conference Programme

Advisory Group

About the Conference

The CPD-accredited conference at Education Estates® covers areas including funding, design, construction, management and maintenance of schools, colleges and universities. Sessions take place over 6 themed stages.

The conference programme is packed with the latest information, valuable insights and best practice examples. Our speakers are experts in their field from every stage of the project life cycle: policy makers to planners to architects to project managers to construction professionals to estates directors to operational teams.

With more than 29,000 schools, 380 colleges and 142 universities across the UK, this highlights the enormity and importance of the education sector. Decarbonising existing fabric through retrofits and refurbishments and successfully achieving zero carbon in new builds will be crucial in the race to combat climate change.

View the Conference Programme

The 2026 programme runs across six themed stages...

Focusing on the future of educational infrastructure, national policy and strategic funding. Sessions explore the Education Estates Strategy in action, emerging construction frameworks, and the vision for a decade of national renewal across the education estate.

Turning the focus on designing, adapting and delivering facilities for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), alongside wider inclusion. Sessions cover embedding SEND provision within mainstream frameworks, managing Emotionally-Based School Avoidance (EBSA), and creating trauma-informed, sensory-aware and neurodiversity-affirming learning environments.

Covering the operational realities, governance and procurement decisions behind running a safe, well-functioning estate. Key discussions target health and safety compliance, healthy indoor environments, PFI contract handback, and data-driven estate management.

Driving the case for renewal before rebuild, with a focus on retrofitting ageing infrastructure. Sessions explore breathing new life into historic and RAAC-affected buildings, repurposing surplus space as demographics shift, and delivering targeted fabric upgrades.

Showcasing architectural excellence, major capital projects and delivery models for new builds. Sessions highlight standardised design programmes such as S25, national school building programmes, and projects that have stood the test of time.

Examining practical routes to carbon reduction, climate resilience and Net Zero across schools, colleges and universities,from Passivhaus-informed design and embodied carbon to climate-adaptive school landscapes.

New for 2026 : Fireside Exchange

No Screens. No Slides. Just Conversation.

This year, Education Estates® is launching a new addition to the programme, designed to strip conference sessions right back to what matters: real conversation.

Fireside Exchange is an intimate, discussion-led space running alongside the main conference stages. While every other stage is built around presentations and slide decks, Fireside Exchange removes the screen entirely — nothing to hide behind, nothing to read off. Just open dialogue, shared insight and honest sector discussion between speakers and attendees, in the round.

The setting features:

Lounge-style seating for up to five speakers

Space for around 18 seated attendees, plus standing room

A professionally produced branded backdrop

No screen — keeping the focus firmly on the people talking

It's a different kind of session by design: closer, more candid, and built for the conversations that don't fit neatly into a 20-minute slide deck.

Sponsor the Fireside Exchange