Prep Boarding Conference 2026

🏷️ From £110
🎧 Prep boarding staff, senior leaders, marketing and admissions
📍 Dragon School, Oxford.

BSA Prep Boarding Conference 2026 is a one-day professional development event for educators and leaders in prep school boarding. The conference covers best practices in providing outstanding academic and pastoral care, managing pupil transitions, and key operational areas such as admissions, compliance, and staff retention. Expert-led sessions and a collaborative round table discussion will provide practical strategies and insights, with a special focus on the crucial topic of pupil wellbeing and sleep optimisation.

Training topics will include:

• Developing outstanding academic and pastoral provision, with a focus on supporting a smooth transition to senior boarding.
• Creating a strategic roadmap for marketing, admissions, compliance, and staff retention in prep boarding schools.
• Applying strategies to improve pupil wellbeing through optimised sleep environments and routines.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

• Identify and apply best practices for delivering outstanding academic, pastoral, and boarding provision in a prep school setting.
• Implement strategies that effectively support pupils in their transition from prep to senior boarding.
• Develop a strategic roadmap for marketing, admissions, and compliance that drives enrolment growth and meets inspection standards.
• Recruit and retain high-quality staff and pupils by addressing key challenges in the boarding sector.
• Apply practical techniques to promote healthier sleep and improve the overall wellbeing of boarding pupils.

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Programme:

09:30 – 10:00            Registration & refreshments

Networking and arrival.

10:00 – 11.00             Belonging: Why Prep Boarding Matters

Setting out the opportunity for prep and junior boarding and asking: what do we want children to say about having boarded with us? 

 What makes a boarding experience genuinely exceptional for a younger child? An exploration of belonging, relationships, independence, adventure and the small everyday moments that create great boarding.  

11:00 – 12:00              UKVI Compliance: Being inspection ready

An update on the latest UKVI rules, regulations and inspections. An opportunity to put your questions and issues to the BSA Legal team. 

12:00 – 13:00            Lunch, networking and boarding tour  

Optional boarding-house/school tour if the venue permits.

13:00 – 13:45             People Make the Place: Building Boarding Teams with Energy and Staying Power 

Explore recruitment, induction, workload, rotas, supervision, professional development, recognition and creating a culture in which staff can enjoy boarding rather than simply administer it.   

13:45 – 14:30             Prep Forum Meeting & Round-table discussion

14:30 – 15:00             Refreshments and networking

15:00 – 16:00            Safe, Seen and Heard: Safeguarding in the Real Life of a Boarding House

Move beyond “being inspection ready” to creating a culture in which safeguarding is visible in everyday decisions. 

16:00                           Conference ends