The Safeguarding Students in Higher Education Conference 2025
Past and Present Supporters include:
Overview
The landscape of safeguarding in education has undergone significant changes in recent years, responding to emerging challenges and evolving needs. Safeguarding now encompasses a broader range of issues, especially in higher education, such as preventing sexual harassment, hate crimes, and promoting better mental health.
There is increasing pressure to create environments where both students and staff feel safe and supported. This shift has required everyone to address physical safety and emotional and psychological well-being. As students’ experiences become more diverse, safeguarding policies must adapt to address inclusivity, discrimination, and the unique challenges we face.
Join us at The Safeguarding Students in Higher Education Conference 2025, where you will hear from university leaders, student welfare professionals, and policy makers on the critical issues surrounding student safety and well-being.
Key topics will include tackling sexual harassment, racial equality and mental health challenges, as well as integrating safeguarding policies into digital environments. Through a series of expert-led case studies, keynote talks attendees will gain insights into creating a positive safeguarding culture that prioritise student and staff safety.
Agenda
Registration
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Christopher East, Co-Founder, Cornerstone Safeguarding (CONFIRMED)
Keynote: The evolving landscape of safeguarding in higher education
- An overview and understanding of the current safeguarding challenges
- Best practices for developing and implementing safeguarding policies and procedures
- Strategies for identifying and mitigating risks to students’ safety and well-being
- Insights into the legal and ethical responsibilities of institutions regarding safeguarding
Claire Dan, Director of Safeguarding and Director, SACPA (CONFIRMED)
Keynote: Neither child nor adult, the transition towards independence in higher education
- Appreciate the unique nature of the 18 – 21 age range, especially for those (almost all) who are leaving home for the first time moving from dependence to semi-independence
- Strategies for early engagement, even before official enrolment, with vulnerable new higher education students. Expect lessons from overseas universities who have successfully implemented this approach
- Preventative approaches for engaging with those who do not self-refer to support services, through active, visible, and compassionate leadership from faculty on campus
- The Covid hangover, appreciate the specific complexities of engaging with individuals who have had their teenage schooling and crucial socialising years interrupted
Ann Marie Christian Safeguarding Consultant, Speaker and Author (CONFIRMED)
Questions & Answers
Comfort Break
CASE STUDY: NHS-University partnerships – working together for better mental health
- The role of NHS-University partnerships in addressing student mental health challenges.
- Highlight collaborative strategies integrating NHS expertise and university support systems
- Discuss case studies of successful collaborations improving student mental health outcomes.
Professor Steve Pilling, Director and Service Champion, University College London (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: The risks and benefits of generative AI in education
- Academic integrity and plagiarism concerns
- AI-generated content and misinformation
- Privacy, data security and intellectual property risks
- Strategies for responsible AI use in educational institutions.
Josh Freeman, Policy Manager, The Higher Education Policy Institute (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: Uprating and Standardising Safeguarding in HE – The Need for Regulatory Reform
- Learn how the current regulatory regime leads to varying standards across institutions
- Discover the impact of reform in other sectors and how reforms such as ‘The Duty of Candour’ & ‘Opt-out’ reforms could be mirrored to increase wellbeing on campus
- Hear how taking an interdisciplinary approach by ensuring academic, pastoral, and wellbeing departments are integrated, helps prevent students ‘falling through the cracks’
Emma Roberts, Head of Law, University of Salford (CONFIRMED)
Questions & Answers
Lunch Break
Keynote: Academic Integrity in the face of AI – TBC
Irene Glendinning, Honorary Teaching Fellow, Coventry University (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: Protecting Students from Sexual Violence
Dr Nicola Roberts, Associate Professor of Criminology, University of Sunderland (CONFIRMED)
Questions & Answers
Breakout Networking: sharing of best practice
Participate in group discussions and share a success story from the past 12 months, focusing on an initiative that was implemented in your organisation to improve safeguarding practices. You talk about how this initiative strengthened safeguarding measures and contributed to a safer environment for staff and students.
Comfort Break
Safeguarding as the Golden Thread: Embedding Safeguarding and Wellbeing into University Practices
- Focusing on how safeguarding can be embedded seamlessly into governance, teaching, student services, and campus operations, ensuring it becomes an integral part of the university’s DNA
- Exploring strategies for aligning safeguarding with institutional values and creating systems that proactively protect and support students and staff
- Implementing consistent safeguarding training, embedding safeguarding into decision-making processes, and creating a culture of accountability and care
- Highlighting how safeguarding, when treated as a unifying thread, enhances trust, inclusion, and resilience across the university through real-world examples
The Safeguarding Alliance (CONFIRMED)
Case Study: Shaping the Future of Safeguarding Students in Higher Education
Annelli Peavot, Head of Safeguarding, Canterbury Christ Church University (CONFIRMED)
Questions & Answers
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Christopher East, Co-Founder, Cornerstone Safeguarding (CONFIRMED)
Previous Speakers
Pippa Catterall
Professor of History and Policy,
University of Westminster
Rose Stephenson
Director of Policy and Advocacy
Higher Education Policy Institute
Elisabeth Day
Deputy Director of Student Policy & Safeguarding
University of Bath
Professor Melissa Hamilton
Professor of Law and Criminal Justice
University of Surrey
Professor Philip Vickerman
Pro-Vice Chancellor (Student Experience), Professor of Inclusive Education and Learning
Liverpool John Moores University
Suzanne Cottrell
Safeguarding Audits Manager
Social Care Institute for Excellence
Louise Mullany
Professor in Sociolinguistics, Faculty of Arts
University of Nottingham
Donny McCormick
Director of Student Support Services
University of Roehampton
Testimonials
This has been one of my favourite online events as I feel I have learnt so much and feel inspired to drive forward changes within my University, thank you.
A highly engaging and informative conference, featuring a range of sessions focusing on many aspects of safeguarding within HE.
A varied and thought provoking conference with good opportunities to network.
An excellent agenda with some insightful speakers.
Really good conference – insightful information shared and considered.
Very overdue conference focussing on Safeguarding hope for more in the future.
Why You Should Attend?
This conference is an essential opportunity to be part of the conversation that shapes the future of safeguarding in higher education.
Whether you’re involved in policy making, student support, or university leadership, attending this event will equip you with the knowledge, tools, and networks to make a lasting impact.
Key learning points include:
- Evolving Safeguarding Challenges: Understand the current landscape of safeguarding and how to implement effective safeguarding policies and procedures.
- Addressing Sexual Violence on Campus: Learn best practices for creating trauma-informed, supportive response systems, and strategies for preventing sexual violence through education
- Mental Health Partnerships and Interventions: Explore the role of NHS-university partnerships in addressing student mental health challenges
- Safeguarding in a Digital World: Discover policies and tools to protect students from online harassment and abuse
- Integrating Intersectionality and Racial Equality: Gain insights into embedding intersectionality into institutional practices to address racial discrimination and advance racial equality.
Who Should Attend?
| Job Title Examples | Organisation Type Examples |
| Head of Student Wellbeing | Universities |
| Head of Safeguarding | NHS Foundation Trusts |
| Head of Governance and Compliance | Further Education Colleges |
| Director of Student Services | HE Funding Councils |
| Director of Student Engagement | Specialist Colleges |
| Head of Programme Development | |
| Widening Access and Inclusion Managers |
Pricing Options
PRIVATE SECTOR
Your delegate place at this leading conference gives you: Full access to the conference; E-guide; Networking opportunities during the day; Access to presentations post conference; 8 CPD Points.
PUBLIC SECTOR
Your delegate place at this leading conference gives you: Full access to the conference; E-guide; Networking opportunities during the day; Access to presentations post conference; 8 CPD Points.
VOLUNTARY SECTOR
Your delegate place at this leading conference gives you: Full access to the conference; E-guide; Networking opportunities during the day; Access to presentations post conference; 8 CPD Points.
Sponsorship
Raise your Profile, Showcase Your Solutions, Generate New Business
If your products, services, and solutions can support our audiences in their roles, and you want to make connections and generate new business with key stakeholders, decision makers, and influencers, then please contact us HERE
IMPORTANT: There are only a small number of sponsorship opportunities available to ensure maximum exposure and ROI – contact us today to secure your place.
Virtual vs F2F
Whilst F2F provide better options for networking, there are many distinct advantages of sponsoring our online conferences including:
- Wider geographical reach of delegates and a different audience who prefer online to f2f
- Lower sponsorship package costs
- No travel/accommodation
- Less time out of the office
- No stand materials required (lower costs)
- 1 of only 2 sponsors involved – less competition on the day
- Prime speaking slot in the morning of the conference including Q&A – less distractions and easier for delegates to hear/absorb information
- Receive all delegate data after the conference to follow-up directly with those who attend and don’t attend (small % but still key stakeholders)
- Ongoing exposure via OnDemand access (coming soon)
To find out more and discuss your specific objectives, please contact us below:
