AgentsConnect on Tour – State Boarding Schools
🏷️ From £100
🎧 Admissions, marketing and international recruitment staff, Heads, Deputy Heads and senior leaders involved in international strategy. Schools seeking to develop or refine their agent networks
📍 Royal Alexandra & Albert School (Gatton Park)
Course outline:
AgentsConnect on Tour – State Boarding Schools is a dedicated event designed to support the UK’s state boarding sector in building effective relationships with international education agents and strengthening awareness of the state boarding offer.
There are currently 30 state boarding schools across the UK, collectively educating around 4,700 boarders. With fees covering residential costs only, state boarding provides a more affordable boarding pathway for eligible families, including UK citizens, British passport holders living overseas and students with the right to residence in Britain. This distinctive model presents both opportunities and challenges when working with agents and communicating the offer clearly.
This event moves beyond traditional recruitment fairs and instead prioritises informed discussion, sector insight and meaningful engagement. The day combines practical guidance with structured networking, enabling schools to connect with agents in a focused environment and explore opportunities for sustainable, compliant partnerships.
What to expect
- Morning insight sessions focused on the state boarding proposition and working effectively with agents
- Guidance on eligibility, messaging and market positioning
- Networking lunch with attending agents and state boarding colleagues
- Structured afternoon networking, providing dedicated time for in-depth conversations with agents
Key benefits for schools
- Meet education agents in a focused, professional setting
- Build trusted relationships that align with the state boarding eligibility framework
- Strengthen messaging around affordability and accessibility
- Share best practice with other state boarding schools
- Contribute to raising awareness and understanding of the state boarding model
Joint with:
Programme:
09:30
Registration and Refreshments
10:00 – 10:15
BSA – State of the Boarding Nation
Speaker: David Walker, FTIOB, Executive Director, Boarding & Education and Director, BSA/TIOB
10:15 – 10:45
Sponsor expert speaker
10:45 – 11:15
Branding for the Global Stage: Attracting International Families with Confidence
Speaker: Phil Dean, Studio Certain
11:15 – 12:00
Creating a strategy for growth: new emerging boarding markets
Speaker: Guy Schady-Beckett, ISS. Joined by a panel of agents
12:00 – 13:00
LUNCH
13:00 – 16:30
Networking every 20 minutes
Speakers:
David Walker, FTIOB, Executive Director, Boarding & Education and Director, BSA/TIOB
David is the Executive Director, Boarding and Director BSA/TIOB and joined the BSA group in August 2023. He has over 20 years’ experience in boarding schools and has worked in a range of schools in the UK and Africa, alongside being a prep school governor and a trustee of a MAT. Before taking up his post at the BSA, David was Deputy Head Pastoral at a large co-ed independent school in the South-East.
Phil Dean, Managing Director, Studio Certain
Phil began his career as a graphic designer in his hometown of Leeds and now runs his agency Studio Certain in central London. He has run both small and large advertising agencies in Leeds, London, Glasgow, New York and Bangalore and has worked with blue chip brands such as Nike, Virgin, Guinness, Formula 1, Toyota, Jaguar to name but a few. He’s also an established artist and has exhibited and sold art in New York and London.
Guy Schady-Beckett, ISS. Joined by a panel of agents
