Student-centred by design

Call for contributions now Closed

We’re returning to The Victoria Rooms for our fourth in-person conference, on Wednesday 1 July 2026. The call for contributions has now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted an expression of interest. We are now reviewing the submissions and will respond to each contributor by the end of March.

Conference overview:

The Student-Centred By Design conference examines how higher education can more meaningfully recognise and empower students as active partners in learning. It explores practical approaches to valuing students’ prior experiences, their contributions to learning communities, and the creation of responsive learning environments that support diverse needs. The conference themes foreground student agency and choice, offering insights into what matters to students, what motivates them, and how learning can be designed to foster genuine ownership. Key themes include:

• Active learning – considering how inclusive and effective active learning can be embedded within teaching and curriculum design to engage, motivate, and support all learners.
• Inclusive assessment – exploring how assessment can move beyond marks and grades to become more authentic, relevant, and connected to students’ lives and aspirations.
• Generative AI in education – examining how human judgement, creativity, and academic practice evolve alongside AI, and how these tools can enhance rather than undermine meaningful learning.

Overall, the conference invites participants to rethink teaching, learning, and assessment in ways that ensure students genuinely matter in everyday educational practice.

Presentation formats:

Formats for presentations will include:

• 15-minute paper presentations (presentation length subject to total conference contributions)
• 1 hour workshop
• Poster
• Stall

Presenters are welcome to engage participants in interactive activities e.g. polls, Mentimeters and can make use of audio/visual resources e.g. PPT presentations or video footage. Such resources will need to be managed within the allotted presentation time.

Selecting contributions criteria:

Proposals will be reviewed by a small shortlisting panel made up of members of the BILT Team. Proposals will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Relevance to the conference theme(s)
• Clarity and coherence of the proposal, including the problem or question addressed and findings or solutions offered
• Theory and/or evidence suggesting the effectiveness of the highlighted practices, solutions or findings or quality of reflection on lessons learned
• Likely value to a range of participants across the University of Bristol and beyond

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