Why should a busy headteacher take a day out for BRILLIANT Festival?
A guide on why BRILLIANT could be the best event you attend all year
Leading a school means constantly looking ahead while also dealing with what's happening right now.
Your staff need support, your pupils' needs are changing, new challenges are emerging and the world young people are preparing to enter is evolving quickly. Amongst all of that, you're expected to decide which ideas, approaches and opportunities are genuinely worth your school's time.
BRILLIANT gives you a day to look beyond the day-to-day.
Taking place on 10 November 2026 at Exhibition Centre Liverpool, BRILLIANT brings together educators, school leaders, employers, innovators and organisations from across education and industry to share what's working, challenge thinking and explore what schools could do differently.
And it's completely free for educators.
Discover ideas and perspectives you won't find inside your own school
Some of the best ideas for your school won't necessarily come from inside it.
At BRILLIANT, you'll hear from educators facing many of the same challenges as you, alongside people from industry, technology, research and the wider world of work.
Across the day, conversations will explore everything from SEND and inclusive education to creativity, STEAM, AI, emerging technology, industry engagement and preparing young people for their future careers.
BRILLIANT isn't about telling school leaders what the future of education should look like, it's about bringing the right people into the same place to explore it together.
Explore BRILLIANT your way
There isn't one route through BRILLIANT, and that's the point.
Our interactive agenda lets you explore the full programme before you arrive and find the sessions, speakers and conversations most relevant to you and your school.
Whether your priorities are SEND and inclusion, preparing pupils for the future workforce, creativity and STEAM, AI, emerging technology or building stronger links with industry, you can explore the agenda and start shaping a day around the challenges and opportunities that matter most to you.
You might choose to follow one area throughout the day, or move between completely different topics and discover perspectives you weren't expecting.
Explore the interactive agenda below and start building your BRILLIANT day.
To create your day, your way, simply toggle the “audience” to suit your role. Want to know when a particular speaker is talking? Search their name and you’ll find where and when they’re talking.
Hear what other schools are doing differently
There is enormous value in seeing beyond the walls of your own school.
What are other leaders trying? What's worked? What hasn't? What have they learned along the way?
For Emma Darcy, Director of Technology for Learning at Denbigh High School, attending BRILLIANT led to conversations that helped her school rethink its approach to AI safeguarding. The best part? They were able to implement the information they’d been given straight away, and it cost nothing to do so.
Emma’s experience demonstrates exactly what BRILLIANT is designed to do. We aim to introduce educators to different thinking and give them ideas they can take away, adapt and make relevant to their own setting.
Find ideas that can actually work in your school, like fellow Headmaster, Tom Rogerson
For Headmaster, Tom Rogerson, BRILLIANT hasn't simply been a day away from school. The relationships he's built and ideas he's discovered through the festival have led to real opportunities for Cottesmore School.
A connection with Edufuturists developed into a relationship Tom describes as “transformative”, playing a part in Cottesmore being named Independent School of the Year in 2025.
BRILLIANT has also exposed Tom and his team to ideas they have gone on to put into practice. Cottesmore embraced esports after seeing its potential and became the first school in the UK to introduce a quadruped robot dog, giving pupils the opportunity to engage with emerging technology in a completely new way.
For Tom, that's the value of BRILLIANT. A conversation, connection or idea discovered on the day can become something much bigger back at school, from a new partnership or approach to an opportunity that puts your school at the forefront of what's next.
Think about where education goes next
Your pupils won't enter the same workplace that existed when they started school.
Technology is changing, AI is changing and the skills employers value are evolving. Creativity, communication, adaptability and problem-solving are becoming increasingly important.
Schools can't respond to all of that alone.
BRILLIANT brings education and the world beyond it together, creating a space to ask bigger questions about whether we're preparing young people for what comes next – and what schools, employers and industry can do together to close the gap.
Think about where education goes next
You might leave BRILLIANT with a new way to approach SEND, a fresh perspective on AI or safeguarding, or a practical solution that could make life easier for your team. You could meet an industry partner who opens up new opportunities for your pupils, connect with another school leader facing the same challenges, or discover a completely different approach to developing creativity and essential skills.
The value of BRILLIANT is that you don't necessarily know which conversation, session or connection will make the biggest difference to your school until you're there.
DATE: 10 NOVEMBER 2026
LOCATION: EXHIBITION CENTRE LIVERPOOL
COST: FREE
Join school leaders, educators, employers and innovators for a day of ideas, conversations and connections that could make a difference long after the festival ends.
REGISTER TODAY
Tuesday 10th November 2026 8.30AM - 5PM
Exhibition Centre, Liverpool Experience Campus L3 4FP
BRILLIANT brings together educators, technology innovators and industry leaders to explore how education must evolve to prepare students for the future of work.