
A school and college guide to CPD opportunities through universities
As a teacher or adviser, to provide effective information and guidance, you must be equipped with accurate and in-depth information on a plethora of ever-changing subjects relating to higher education. This could be challenging with the ongoing COVID-19 related restrictions.
Luckily, help is at hand. Universities offer a number of ways to help you stay up to date – from podcasts and webinars to residential and virtual conferences, there’s something to suit everyone. I will provide an overview of some of these here.
Teacher and adviser conferences
Teacher and adviser conferences are hosted
by universities and other higher education
institutions nationwide, and are often free to
attend and CPD accredited. They are usually
one or two days, with the latter including
accommodation and a networking dinner – giving
you the chance to meet other professionals to
share challenges and best practices.
The format and content will vary, but you can
generally expect a mix of internal and external
speakers, workshops and Q&As. Most offer
break-out sessions, enabling you to tailor your
programme to maximise personal development in
an area of your choice.
Lots of universities moved their conferences
online due to the current challenges, with great success, so this is
something that we could see more of going
forward.
Podcasts
Some universities offer podcasts designed
specifically for teachers and advisers. They are a
great way to top up your knowledge throughout
the year, listening to episodes at a time and place
that is convenient for you.
Podcasts often feature higher education
advisers, academics, admissions tutors, current
or past students and external speakers. You can
subscribe to podcasts for free, meaning that you’ll
get new episodes automatically as soon as they
are available.
Interactive webinars
As you would expect, webinars are now more popular than ever. They have evolved in recent years so instead of sitting passively or typing in online chat forums, a number of universities now run interactive sessions that offer the next best thing to being in the same room as the speaker (you may have even arranged for some of these sessions for your classroom of students). Register in advance and you’ll be sent a link to log-in and join the session. The number of participants is often limited which means you’ll be able to ask questions and discuss key points.
Keeping you up-to-date
These opportunities offer you the chance to stay informed about the latest developments in higher education from industry experts, giving you the tools and skills needed to foster the talents and aspirations of your students. University school liaison and outreach teams understand how important it is to deliver the best careers guidance this year and we are here to support you to achieve that.
Want More Updates & Advice?

Teachers, careers colleagues and support staff: request your FREE UniTasterDays Teachers' Guide to University brochure.
The Teachers’ Guide has been produced by UniTasterDays.com in collaboration with HELOA - to support the university guidance that is provided in secondary schools and colleges.
Editorial has been provided by over 30 colleagues at universities throughout the UK, on topics including booking online university events, the Gatsby benchmarks, university CPD opportunities, arranging subject specific events and more.
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Experts and celebrity names outside higher education have also supplied fantastic content, including Martin Lewis’s exclusive content on university fees and finance and graduate employability content from one of the UK's most successful business leaders, CEO of BT's Consumer Division, Marc Allera.


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