NEON Summer Symposium 2026 – Call for papers

NEON would like to invite the submission of research papers and examples of best practice for the NEON Summer Symposium 2026. 

Following the success of last year’s Symposium, which saw excellent attendance of over 200 delegates, our annual event is heading to Liverpool for the very first time. The 2026 NEON Summer Symposium will be held on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th June at the Liverpool John Moores University.

The theme of the 2026 Symposium will be ‘All together now – Collaboration in a new era of widening access and student success’. With the publication of the Government’s post-16 education and skills white paper, plans to reform the Uni Connect project in England in 2027, new guidance on fee and access plans for higher education providers in Wales, and an expectation in Scotland that 18% of Scottish-domiciled full first-time degree entrants will be from the 20% most deprived areas, widening access is reaching a key milestone as policy is put in place for the coming years.

The 2026 NEON Summer Symposium will examine and debate the role that collaboration will play in this new, policy landscape as we strive for future success within higher education, in terms of access, student success and future employability.

Key themes will include:

  • What are key partnerships higher education providers need to make in order to widen access and ensure student success?
  • How will Local Skills Improvement Plans impact on widening access and how can higher education ensure its engagement?
  • What part can technology play in access and success in higher education work moving forward?
  • What is the importance of partnerships between outreach, student success and progression work within organisations? How and where do they connect, and what is the impact?
  • What data should be collected regionally on the impact of access and participation work? Why should it be collected and how should it be disseminated so it can inform practice?

We are seeking research papers/best practice examples that focus on the above theme and investigate the following:

  • Research and practice related to collaborative and partnership working both looking at that practice and/or its impact.
  • Strategic approaches to access and participation that bring together outreach and/or student success and/or progression through partnership and/or collaboration.
  • Outreach/student success/progression practice with specific groups of learners looking at the specific challenges associated with working with that group and/or the impact being made.
  • Innovatory practice across the whole field of access and participation work including ‘work in progress’ and new approaches to regional collaboration.
  • Research studies that relate to the outreach/student success/progression and the development and relationship to theoretical frameworks related to inequalities in society.
  • Research studies that relate to inclusive pedagogical and curriculum practice and also papers on practice in this field.
  • The relationship between higher education participation/access & participation practice, types of qualifications and inequalities associated with region, gender, ethnicity, place and other protected characteristics.
  • Higher education progression for T-level students and the development of robust pathways.
  • Analysis of the formation, impact and delivery of policies related to access, participation and success in all the four nations of the United Kingdom, including Access and Participation Plans (APPs) in England, Outcome agreements in Scotland, Fee and Access Plans in Wales and Widening Access and Participation Plans (WAPPs) in Northern Ireland.
  • Policies related to access and participation and their formation, impact and implications for practice and theory.
  • General papers related to all aspects of access and participation policy and practice both nationally and internationally.

We particularly welcome papers from researchers, practitioners, early career members of staff and first time presenters.

We will seek to combine papers into interesting and stimulating sessions, the outcomes of which will be captured by NEON and used to inform our agenda going forward into 2026-27.

Presenting at the NEON Summer Symposium will have a tangible outcome for presenters i.e.:

  • Informing the agenda and work of NEON
  • Inclusion in the NEON website
  • Sharing your institution’s/organisation’s work with a broad range of delegates
  • Presenting at the largest UK conference that focuses upon widening access
  • Having the opportunity to have your work published via the NEON website.

Paper presentations should be between 15-20 minutes in length with an additional 10 minutes allocated for further questions. Abstracts should be no more than 500 words

Submit your abstract here.

Please note: all presenters/speakers of the NEON Summer Symposium are required to register for the event. You can register for the Summer Symposium here.

The NEON Summer Symposium – the event for widening access professionals you can’t afford to miss