Happy New Year for 2026. We are looking forward to seeing NERUPI members at our online and in-person events including our session specifically for evaluators on 4 February and kindly hosted by Leeds Beckett University BOOK HERE. With a deadline of 30 January there is still plenty of time to submit a proposal for a session at our in-person conference Tackling Degree Awarding Gaps in Higher Education taking place on 18 May and kindly hosted by London South Bank University. Both of these in-person events are free for NERUPI members.
Contextual offers: supporting student experience – 14 January, online, 13.30 – 15.30
Contextual offers have increasingly become part of the HE landscape and are now widely viewed as vital for making admissions processes fairer. In this session we will be considering the effectiveness of contextual offers in both widening access and providing students with opportunities to succeed in their studies. We will also hear about some of the challenges and stigma students admitted with contextual offers can encounter, and ways to support these students in progressing to and through higher education. With keynote speakers Professor Vikki Boliver, Durham and Dr Charlotte Bagnall, Manchester, practice examples from NERUPI members and an expert panel this will be a timely opportunity to review current practice and explore next steps for contextual offers. BOOK HERE
STEM Working group: Working with secondary schools & students – 15th January, online, 14.00 – 15.30
This Working group meeting focuses on activities with secondary schools and KS3 – KS4 students. Dr Carl Harrington, University of East Anglia will be talking about integrated ways of working with secondary schools, including teachers, parents, and students. Jessica Birch, University of Sunderland, will share experiences of running a targeted intervention with a focus on Medicine, designed to support Year 9 students and help them make informed choices. Please come along to hear about these activities, share your own experiences and discuss different approaches to engaging with secondary schools and students, as well as ways to evaluate this work. BOOK HERE
Paradoxical Parenting Practices – 22nd January, online, 14.00 – 15.30
In this Engaging Parent and Carers Working Group session Professor Rachel Brooks, University of Oxford will provide insights from her research into intensive parenting practices of students in higher education. The talk will be followed by discussion with Rachel about the implications of this research for practitioners involved in supporting equitable practices in HE. BOOK HERE
Learning from evaluations: implementation in your own context – 28th January, online, 14.00 - 15.30
In this Evaluators Working Group session Rebecca Harland, University of Law, and Jared Patel, Loughborough University, will describe how they used the Racially Inclusive Practice in Assessment Guidance (RIPIAG) tool in their particular contexts. BOOK HERE
NERUPI Evaluators’ Event - 4th February, IN-PERSON, 10.30 - 15.45
Booking is now open for our popular in-person event specifically for evaluators. The sessions will include expert input as well as interactive activities, giving participants the opportunity to discuss practice and exchange ideas. This year we will explore two key areas: ethical approaches to evaluation and the process of gaining ethical approval and the changing role of the evaluator. BOOK HERE
Peer Evaluation Course Information Session: - online 11 February 14.00 - 15.30
We are now recruiting for the Peer Evaluation Course 2026. With a combination of online and in-person sessions this is the perfect course for those with responsibility for evaluation who are looking for opportunities to develop their understanding and practice with others in similar role. Come along to our information session on to find out more and hear from participants on past courses. BOOK HERE
What is student success and how can we measure it? – 18th March, online, 14.00 – 16.00
In this event Professor Camille Kandiko-Howson, Imperial College London, and Andy Pitchford, University of Westminster, will focus on how we might evaluate the academic, social and economic benefits to students, and the wider society, through approaches that support continuous organisational development to improve student outcomes and experience. BOOK HERE