BILT Conference 2026 – Student-Centred, By Design
Registration is now open
We’re returning to The Victoria Rooms for our fourth in-person conference, on Wednesday 1 July 2026.
You can register to attend this all-day event as a full-day delegate (buffet lunch included), or for the morning or afternoon sessions only.
Visit the Conference Homepage for more info, including:
- timetable of the full day
- abstracts of all the presentations
- mini-bios of the presenters
Registration links
Optional pre-conference coffee event (see below for details):
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.
2 Keynote presentations
Morning keynote:
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- Dr Jo Hartland (they/them) University of Bristol
- Challenging exclusion: a critical conversation about inclusion and its limitations
Afternoon keynote:
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- Dr Susan Kenyon Canterbury Christ Church University
- Commuter students: an inclusive curriculum by design
3 Workshops (up to 60 minutes)
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- Reconnecting students
- Assessment design
- AI design
26 presentations (15 minutes) grouped by topic
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- Diversity and inclusion
- Wellbeing and inclusion
- Inclusive assessment
- Generative AI in education
- Supporting student research
- Innovative design
4 Stalls open throughout the day
- Power, Politics and Pottery: Neurodiversity, Inclusion and Creative Practice
- Evolving CEL: Balancing Community‑Led Design with Student Agency
- Centring students in the transition to Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus
- Bristol Common Press
Poster gallery throughout the day
Refreshments
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- Welcome tea/coffee and breakfast pastries
- Buffet lunch for full-day delegates
- Tea/coffee available throughout the day
Pre-conference Randomised coffee chat
Randomised Coffee is a simple but powerful idea from NESTA, to get people together, break down silos, connect and learn from each other.
What will happen?
- You opt in – click here (there’s just one box to tick).
- We will randomly pair you with another conference attendee. If you are a student, you can choose to be paired with another student if you prefer.
- We will email you two weeks before the conference to introduce you.
- It is then up to you to get in touch with each other and organise your meeting date ahead of the conference.
- It need not be in a coffee shop, of course – it can be a drink in a bar or other refreshment, whatever works best for you.
- If you are on a different site, enjoy a virtual meeting.
Any questions please email bilt-info@bristol.ac.uk