Call for proposals

The AMOSSHE National Conference 2025 is the UK’s foremost opportunity for Student Services leaders to share expertise and good practice, develop strategy and skills, and build professional networks. The conference brings together a wealth of experience and expertise, which makes it the ideal forum to explore key themes for Student Services in higher education.

The conference takes place from Wednesday 2 to Friday 4 July 2025 at The Eastside Rooms in Birmingham, UK. The conference is for in-person delegates only. Sessions at the conference won’t be recorded or streamed online. Booking for the conference opens in March 2025.

In the meantime, find out more about the conference and the delegate prices.

Student Services leaders benefit from the imaginative input of peers and sector experts in order to deliver effective and productive services for students. Your participation shapes the agenda and ensures that the conference is relevant, useful and inspiring.

Leading a workshop or presenting your work at our conference is a good way to explore new ideas, get feedback on gains and challenges in your work, develop your professional confidence and network, and start new discussions.

For Student Services professionals, being part of the AMOSSHE National Conference programme is a prestigious professional development opportunity. You can raise your personal profile, draw attention to your work, benefit from peer perspectives, and develop new networks of colleagues with similar interests and areas of expertise.

We’re looking for inspiring sessions that share expertise, promote great ideas and generate dynamic discussion. For example:

• You have uplifting and inspiring success stories to tell.
• You’ve delivered excellent services for students in an increasingly challenging environment.
• You’ve delivered initiatives, developed projects or undertaken research that others can learn from.
• You’ve worked across boundaries with other organisations to provide high quality support and excellent outcomes for students.
• You’ve successfully looked for new opportunities to deliver Student Services.
• You’re part-way through a project or initiative, and now is a great time to share what you’ve learned so far, as well as your plans for the next phase of your work.

All the sessions must address topics of interest to Student Services professionals, and we especially welcome proposals that explore our conference themes. Our themes explore how Student Services leaders continue to innovate, inspire and influence:

• Innovate – using new ideas, creative thinking and different approaches to deliver high quality Student Services and achieve excellent outcomes.
• Inspire – enabling staff, students and other stakeholders to feel enthusiastic, positive and curious about the exceptional work that continues across the sector.
• Influence – showcasing examples where we have the capacity to shape and drive forward ideas and projects to meet the needs of students and staff in a complex and rapidly-changing higher education environment.

We welcome session proposals from the UK and around the world, including from:

• Named AMOSSHE members.
• Colleagues at AMOSSHE member organisations.
• Other education providers.
• Higher education sector associations and bodies.
• Not-for-profit organisations.

You may choose to lead your session along with partner organisations that you collaborate with to support your work.

We don’t accept proposals from corporate organisations. If you want to introduce or promote products and services to delegates, you can take part in the conference as a sponsor. Find out more here: National Conference 2025 sponsorship.

If your proposal for a session is accepted, each session leader and co-presenter must register as a conference delegate to join us in Birmingham for at least the day on which your session takes place. If attending the conference is difficult for you because of cost, you can apply to get a discount on your ticket price when you submit your proposal. See Can I get a speaker discount? below.

Find out more about the conference prices.

You can choose to lead a session for either 30 or 60 minutes.

Here are the session formats you can propose:

• Workshop (30 or 60 minutes) – an interactive workshop that encourages delegates to take part in activities, such as group work, contributing ideas, experience and best practice. If you begin your workshop with a short presentation, this should take no more than a quarter of the time, and the main content should involve audience participation. Workshops could take the form of facilitated discussions and/or case study scenarios.
• Presentation (30 or 60 minutes) – a presentation about a subject of interest to Student Services professionals. Your session should include time for questions and answers (at least five minutes). The presentation should be engaging and informative, preferably with a slideshow that can be distributed to attendees and members later.

We'll provide a laptop, projection and AV equipment for your session, in a dedicated room at the conference venue.

The conference takes place in person in Birmingham, so if your proposal for a session is accepted, each session leader and co-presenter must register as a conference delegate to join us in Birmingham to attend in person for at least the day on which the session takes place. If attending the conference is difficult for you because of cost, you can apply to get a discount on your ticket price when you submit your proposal. See Can I get a speaker discount? below.

Most National Conference sessions are led by one or two people. There's no limit, but please consider whether the number of co-presenters is appropriate for your session. For example, if your session is a 30 minute presentation, more than two presenters will limit the time each has to contribute.

For workshops, the conference team can help and advise you about how to deliver your session, and the number of colleagues you may need.

If your proposal for a session is accepted, each session leader and co-presenter must register as a conference delegate to join us in Birmingham for at least the day on which your session takes place. If attending the conference is difficult for you because of cost, you can apply to get a discount on your ticket price when you submit your proposal. See Can I get a speaker discount? below.

We want colleagues from across the higher education student support sector to take part in our conference, including those who have less opportunity to engage with an event of this kind.

If your proposal for a session is accepted, each session leader and co-presenter must register as a conference delegate to join us in Birmingham for at least the day on which your session takes place. If attending the conference is difficult for you because of cost, you can apply to get a discount on your ticket price when you submit your proposal.

We’ve set aside a fund to offer to speakers as discounts on tickets to attend. We’ll distribute the fund at our discretion to speakers who apply for it, and who meet one or more of these criteria:

• Speaking for the first time at an AMOSSHE National Conference.
• Starting on their Student Services leadership career (for example, early career professionals).
• Working in circumstances that limit their opportunities for professional development (for example, those from small and specialist organisations where resources for professional development are tight).
• From diverse backgrounds, who want to bring their perspectives and insights to the conference conversations and contribute to our network of Student Services leaders.

To apply for a discount when you submit your session proposal, please write a short expression of interest (no more than 200 words) telling us why you’re the right person to get a discount, and how it will benefit your professional development. Also, tell us which kind of ticket you want to get a discount on. Here are the conference prices.

Get agreement from your line manager (or similar) that they will give you the time to attend the conference, pay the discounted fee and support you with other costs. Unfortunately, we can’t contribute to your expenses (for example, travel, accommodation). 

We’ll confirm whether your application for a discount is successful no later than week commencing Monday 17 March 2025.

To submit a proposal, complete this online form:

You can’t save your form before you submit it, so please prepare the following information beforehand:

• Session title.
• Session summary for use in the conference programme (200 words or less).
• A summary of the learning outcomes for attendees (150 words or less).
• A summary of the research background and/or evaluated outcomes underpinning your session (150 words or less).
• A summary of the activities you will ask delegates to participate in (workshop proposals only, 150 words or less).
• Details for each presenter / session leader (names, job title, organisation, email address, preferred pronouns, access and/or dietary requirements).
• For each presenter / session leader who wants to apply for a discount on their ticket to attend, write a short expression of interest (no more than 200 words) telling us why you’re the right person to get a discount, and how it will benefit your professional development. Also, tell us which kind of ticket you want to get a discount on.

Please submit your proposal for consideration by 17:00 on Friday 28 February 2025.

You'll receive an email to confirm that we've received your proposal. If you don't receive this confirmation within a week of submission, please contact us. We'll give you feedback about your proposals no later than week commencing Monday 17 March 2025.

You can submit as many session proposals for consideration as you like. For each one, please submit a separate form.

The conference team carefully considers all session proposals, and chooses the successful proposals by asking the following questions:

• Is the session engaging, informative, inspiring?
• Is the session relevant to Student Services professionals and current priorities for the sector?
• Does the session engage with the conference themes?
• Will the session contribute to AMOSSHE members’ continuing professional development?

Your session proposal should answer these questions satisfactorily.

We’ll let you know whether your proposal is successful no later than week commencing Monday 17 March 2025. If your session proposal is accepted, the conference team will give you feedback about your proposal, and may make suggestions to further enhance the session.

We’ll also discuss and agree with you an advance date for you to send a copy of your completed presentation and any other session materials. These materials will be made available in the members’ area of this website following the conference, unless there are issues of confidentiality or inaccuracy that would make this inappropriate.

If your proposal for a session is accepted, each session leader and co-presenter must register as a conference delegate to join us in Birmingham for at least the day on which your session takes place. If you’ve applied for a speaker discount on your ticket, we’ll let you know whether your application is successful, and the amount of the discount you’re eligible for.

Unfortunately, we can’t contribute to your expenses (for example, travel, accommodation). Find out more about the conference prices.

Delegates choose which sessions they want to attend once the programme is published, so we can't determine in advance how many will attend your session. The number of delegates may also be restricted by the capacity of the room at the venue.

Due to the high number of delegates who may attend, we can’t accommodate sessions that are limited to a small number of people. If you’re leading a workshop, the conference team will help you facilitate and run your session if there are due to be high numbers of attendees.

For more information about the AMOSSHE National Conference 2025 and submitting a session proposal, please contact us or look here: AMOSSHE National Conference 2025.