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Imagine getting two uninterrupted days to learn, reflect, and recharge your battery for the next school year.

, returning to Wellington College on 2 and 3 July, offers just that: a blend of policy, research-based practice, creativity and inspiration, alongside classroom strategies, leadership insights and subject-specific discussions that educators can take straight back to school.

From Doug Lemov’s opening keynote, to the coveted closing slot from comedian and writer Jack Whitehall, this year’s demonstrates the breadth of voices that makes the Festival distinctive. Whitehall rose to fame in the sitcom Bad Education, and the Festival finale promises humour, storytelling and reflection on education, adolescence and the people who shape our lives.

Also fresh off the screen, the Educating Yorkshire cast will meet Educating Essex head Vic Goddard for the first time, for an honest, unscripted conversation about leadership and school life in the public eye.

For English teachers and literature lovers, one of the most anticipated appearances will be novelist Elif Shafak. Her works, including The Island of Missing Trees, are studied by thousands of sixth-formers across the country, helping young people understand themes of identity, displacement, migration and belonging in a time of global conflict.

The keynote programme takes an expansive view of education. Attendees can hear from scientist Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock, entrepreneur Deborah Meaden, broadcaster and BBC Director-General Tim Davie, Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes, and former BBC producer Sam McAlister, who secured the BBC Newsnight interview with then-Prince Andrew. Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver will also tread the boards, gracing the audience with a special session on the inspectorate’s approach to professional development.

Moving beyond the main stage, attendees can build entirely different experiences from the 300 sessions on offer, depending on their interests and role. Early years practitioners will find discussions on child development, play, literacy and the foundations of learning. Primary and secondary colleagues can explore everything from AI and digital learning to subject pedagogy, leadership, curriculum design, reading, family engagement, behaviour, assessment and pupil wellbeing. The programme also includes strands on SEND, inclusion, safeguarding, school culture, business management, governance, and education research.

One of the Festival’s greatest strengths is the way it allows classroom practitioners to interact with policymakers, academics, authors and public figures. A delegate might spend one session exploring evidence-informed approaches to teaching, the next debating the future of inspection, before joining a discussion on literacy, leadership or the impact of technology on children’s lives.

For school leaders, the event offers a valuable opportunity to step outside the immediate pressures of day-to-day school life. Conversations about staff wellbeing sit alongside debates on accountability, sustainability, school improvement and the future direction of the education system, while teachers can explore practical classroom strategies and the wider forces shaping the children they teach.

Yet one of the Festival’s defining features cannot be found on the programme itself: its atmosphere.

Unlike most education conferences, the Festival is deliberately designed to encourage meandering, chance encounters and unexpected conversations. Between sessions, delegates spill out onto the lawns and pathways of Wellington College, catching up with colleagues, meeting new contacts and continuing debates that began in marquees and classrooms. There is time to reflect, and to discover connections and ideas that weren’t on your original agenda.

That combination of intellectual curiosity and informality helps explain why so many attendees return year after year. It is as much a celebratory gathering of the education community as it is a professional development event, allowing teachers and leaders to leave feeling supported and inspired to renew their practice.

For anyone working in education – whether in early years, primary, secondary, further education, governance, business management or leadership – the challenge will not be finding relevant content, but deciding what to miss.

The Festival of Education takes place at Wellington College on 2–3 July.

To view the full programme and secure tickets, visit: