University training day - September 2026
Inspiring, insightful and interactive training for student recruitment, widening participation, and outreach professionals who deliver talks, activities, and events for schools and colleges.
Inspiring, insightful and interactive training for student recruitment, widening participation, and outreach professionals who deliver talks, activities, and events for schools and colleges.
Tuesday 22 September 2026
9:30am to 5pm
STEAMhouse
Birmingham
£275 + VAT
Early bird until 28 August
40 spaces available
Our 13th university training day is taking place on Tuesday 22 September.
These popular events are created for university staff who deliver talks, activities, and events for schools and colleges. This includes staff working in student recruitment, widening participation, school liaison, and outreach roles.
You will hear from leading experts from inside and outside the sector on a diverse range of topics, all designed to help you perform in your role and inspire prospective students to see all the opportunities higher education offers.
Join us for an event designed to help you engage students and their supporters. You'll discover how to:
Your speakers will include:
This content is especially relevant for those working closely with prospective students, their supporters, teachers, careers advisers, schools, and colleges.
Networking is a key focus, so the event will feature regular breaks, with optional post-event networking drinks included too!
Watch this video from a previous training day for a taster of what to expect:
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 09:30 | Registration and refreshments |
| 09:45 | Welcome and introduction Jon Cheek, Founder and Director of UniTasterDays |
| 09:50 | The value of personal relationships with schools and colleges Sarra Jenkins, Director of Future Pathways at Loughborough Grammar School |
| 10:50 | Morning refreshments |
| 11:20 | The power of connection: building trust with students from all backgrounds
Steven Russell, CEO of Elements Support CIC |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30 | Voice versatility: using your voice to engage, inspire, and educate students
Molly Parker, Voice and Accent Lecturer at LAMDA |
| 14:30 | Afternoon refreshments |
| 14:50 | LinkedIn or LinkedOut: finding your comfort zone on the social media spectrum 🌈
Simon Fairbanks, Associate Director of Community Engagement at UniTasterDays |
| 15:45 | Closing quiz – prizes to be won!
Jon Cheek, Founder and Director of UniTasterDays |
| 16:00 | Networking drinks Complimentary drinks at BCU Students’ Union |
| 17:00 | Finish |
Sarra Jenkins, Director of Future Pathways at Loughborough Grammar School
This session will share ways to manage and strengthen connections with schools and colleges in a way that is impactful, efficient, and mutually beneficial. You will gain an understanding of the needs and challenges of school staff, learn to develop tailored communications, and discover how to maintain long-term engagement despite time and resource constraints.
Sarra will offer real-world examples and actionable advice from her experience working alongside HE providers in schools. Through interactive discussions, attendees will learn how to build trust with key school personnel, provide reciprocal value to schools, and create sustainable partnerships that enhance outreach efforts. She'll provide insights into the complexities of working with different schools, allowing you to establish new relationships and enhance existing ones.
Steven Russell, CEO of Elements Support CIC
This workshop explores the importance of building meaningful connections with the young people you support and work alongside in your student recruitment, widening participation, and outreach work. Establishing a connection is the critical first step in any relationship. Only then, will you engage prospective students from all backgrounds in conversations about higher education, as well as their parents, carers, teachers, and advisers.
Drawing on his own lived care experience, Steven will offer practical insights to help participants engage with the 5 elements of connection – patience, presence, creativity, curiosity, and authenticity. Through his personal story, Steven will showcase the real-world impact that these elements can have in creating trust, mutual understanding, and lasting relationships. You will leave equipped with practical strategies and reflective practices to strengthen your connections, promoting growth, resilience, and positive change.
Molly Parker, Voice and Accent Lecturer at LAMDA
Your voice is a superpower. As outreach professionals, we use this ability in our daily activity. Our vocal chords help us command a challenging classroom, speak over the noise at a bustling UCAS fair, and show compassion when supporting a prospective student through a difficult applicant journey.
This session will help you flex and fine-tune your voice for a variety of scenarios common in our school liaison roles. You'll learn how to engage, inspire, and educate audiences through practical voice exercises. You'll also learn how to protect the health of your voice in busy periods.
Simon Fairbanks, Associate Director of Community Engagement at UniTasterDays
In 2026, having a LinkedIn profile is just as essential as having an email address. Our audiences are active on LinkedIn – students, parents, teachers, careers advisers – and we need to venture into their browsing space to secure their interest and influence.
But social media is an intimidating concept for many. The phenomenon is a stalwart in negative news stories, ranging from invasion of privacy to mental health abuse. LinkedIn isn’t TikTok or X or Instagram (for now) but it remains a largely public arena of bottomless feeds, dizzying multimedia content, and ever-invasive spam.
How do we stand out in that maelstrom of messages? Is it possible to craft compelling content, form a genuine connection, and build trust? Also, what if we don’t like social media? How do we learn to use it professionally, when we avoid it personally?
LinkedIn is a lot. But take a breath. This session is here to help. You’ll learn how to find your comfort zone in the LinkedIn multiverse. You’ll discover ways to harness the platform, wherever you sit on the social media spectrum, which (rest assured) caters to extroverts, introverts, and ambiverts in equal measure. So, are you LinkedIn or out?
Sarra Jenkins is the Director of Future Pathways at Loughborough Grammar School. She has spent more than a decade guiding students through post-18 decisions and applications. She is a qualified careers adviser, having recently completed her Masters at the University of Derby, which focused on widening participation and the relationship between parental and student values in HE-decision-making. She is also the governor at a large FE college, with responsibility for careers and futures, and she has written articles for UniTasterDays, HEPI, ISE, and more.
Steven is a dedicated leader in the care and education sectors, with over 18 years of lived and professional experience inspiring change for children in and out of care. Winner of the prestigious Global Inclusion Award for SEMH from the International Forums of Inclusion Practitioners (IFIP), he is recognised for his commitment to promoting inclusion and empowering the professionals who support vulnerable young people.
Through Elements Support CIC and Elements Education and Training, Steven leads innovative projects tailored for teachers, social workers, foster and kinship carers, and residential care teams. His initiatives, including The Power of One, Connection Before Correction, and Decoding Behaviour, champion fresh, practical approaches to creating meaningful connections and driving positive change.
Steven’s first book, Drip by Drip, Day by Day, was released in 2025. This poignant reflection on his care experiences offers valuable insights and lessons for reshaping the future of care.
A sought-after speaker and trainer, Steven blends impactful personal stories with actionable strategies, equipping professionals to make a lasting difference and igniting passion for inclusive and compassionate practice.
Molly Parker is a seasoned Voice and Accent Coach specializing in unlocking voices, building confidence, and enhancing storytelling beyond the stage. She offers tailored coaching services for actors, group dynamics, and one-on-one sessions, focusing on voice, accent, and breath work.
Molly is also a dynamic speaker, delivering talks on women's voices, confidence, and storytelling. Her mission is to empower individuals to discover and harness their whole voice, fostering personal and professional growth.
Simon has almost 20 years of experience in the higher education sector. This includes student recruitment, marketing, and events roles at four different universities in the UK: Nottingham, Birmingham, Warwick, and Coventry. Simon has also worked as a content strategy consultant for the international education sector.
Simon has a particular flair for designing engaging training sessions. Currently, he leads the training portfolio for UniTasterDays, including their quarterly training days in Birmingham, on-campus training for staff, on-campus training for ambassadors, 6-week leadership course, and 6-week manager course.
Past recipients of Simon’s training include AccessHE, Bath Spa University, LiNCHigher, Liverpool Hope University, London Higher, Queen Mary University of London, St Mary’s University, Study Higher, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Bristol, the University of Essex, the University of Salford, the University of Sunderland, and various HELOA regional groups.
Simon is an international speaker. He has spoken at a variety of conferences, including CASE, ContentEd, EFMD, IDPE, FindAUniversity, HELOA, HighEdWeb, PSEWeb, SU Digital, SU Marketing Conference, Utterly Content, and the UK Ghost Story Festival. He was Chair of the Newcomers Track at CASE Europe Annual Conference from 2020 to 2023.
As a published author, Simon is particularly interested in storytelling in the education sector. He spends his free time reading, writing, running, and finding new ways to make his children laugh.
Today reignited why I do what I do, and gave me some great ideas to use moving forward. Thank you for such an insightful training day. The venue was great, and the speakers were inspirational.
Clear concise sessions that target exactly what you need, and leave you wanting to put new strategies into action. I want to say a massive thank you to UniTasterDays for your in-depth and inspiring day!
I had a great experience attending the UniTasterDays training in Birmingham. Huge thank you to UniTasterDays for bringing together professionals from universities all over the UK, and providing the opportunity to brainstorm, engage, and inspire one another.
Our programme is designed to meet the specific needs of university practitioners working in student recruitment, outreach, and widening participation event delivery roles. Expect audience-focused sessions to help you address the challenges you may encounter in your role.
Our event allows multiple opportunities for networking. This includes morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch, and a complimentary drinks reception after the event. You will leave with a wide range of new connections across the sector.
Our training days are designed as in-person events, so the sessions won’t be recorded. It is a unique opportunity for you to gain insights from experienced and expert speakers, whilst learning alongside your peers in a delightful location.