Diverse and representative leadership at all levels in HE is critical to ensuring that your institution, and the leaders within, can respond successfully to the challenging environment the sector is facing.
Our portfolio helps to create pathways to leadership that support you in building a more diverse pool of leaders with abilities that enable your organisation to deal with emerging challenges, and build a foundation for long-term sustainability.
We are committed to working with you to develop you and your people, supporting career progression for individuals and simultaneously the development of strong leaders for your institution.
Shaped by your feedback and our privileged position as the leading HE sector charity, our Leadership in Higher Education programmes and events portfolio for 2025-26 offers a range of opportunities supporting the professional development of new and existing leaders. As well as what you can learn from these programmes and events, they provide invaluable opportunities to network, share insights and collaborate with experts on common issues.
Request the programmes and events brochure 2025/26
Request your copy of the new programme and events brochure, which includes a dedicated Leadership section.
Programmes, conferences and events portfolio for 2025-26
Our portfolio for 2025-26 blends high-quality learning and insight-sharing opportunities delivered using a range of innovative techniques and platforms both in person and virtually. For a limited time you can take advantage of a 5% early booking offer across many of our programmes and events and if your organisation is an Advance HE member you could benefit from a further 25% discount.
Top Management Programme for Higher Education
Developing senior leaders in higher education
A development opportunity specifically created for those in an executive role in a higher education institution. Over 60 of the current UK Vice-Chancellors and Principals are TMP HE alumni, with many of the other past participants of TMP HE holding some of the most senior posts throughout higher education.
The challenges facing higher education both in the UK and internationally continue to grow in their scale and complexity; this emphasises the need for institutions to have confident, forward thinking and effective executive leadership with the agility and innovation to respond.
Executive leaders also need space and opportunity to think differently and build effective networks, skills and insights to sustain their roles and contribution for both their personal benefit and be a fully contributing member of the Executive team.
Transition to Leadership
Enhance your leadership skills and become an authentic leader
Those entering leadership roles for the first time during these challenging times need to be fully equipped to do so, particularly when those roles involve leading academic teams and colleagues.
Transition to Leadership will explore your personal leadership, your team leadership and your change leadership style. By understanding your own resilience and how you can influence and inspire others you will learn new approaches to manage difficult situations and enable institutional change to happen.
Research Leadership in Higher Education
Supporting career progression for individuals and strengthening research leadership across the sector
Research leadership plays a vital role in shaping positive research cultures, supporting teams, and enabling high‑quality research outcomes. As the research environment continues to evolve, individuals benefit from opportunities to build confidence, enhance leadership practice, and develop strategic understanding.
Advance HE provides learning and development opportunities that help individuals navigate the complexities of research leadership and contribute effectively to their institution’s research ambitions.
Research Leadership Development Programme
Our Research Leadership Development Programme supports the development of research leaders at all levels in an institution to improve on existing research culture and research outcomes. The programme has three tiers, providing development for aspiring, emerging, and established research leaders. Each tier is uniquely tailored to support the organisational and individual needs at these career stages.
Leading Departments
New and experienced heads of department / school or service leads
Leading Departments is designed to engage, support and develop new Heads of Department to meet the operational and commercial challenges of leading and managing academic or service teams.
In this short video, previous Leading Department participants and the delivery team talk about their experiences of the programme.
Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme UK
The shortage of senior women at the most senior levels in institutions is still a challenge, despite some improvements at executive and board levels in recent years.
Our Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme (formerly Leadership Matters) is one of our women-only programmes designed specifically for women in senior positions in HE to help them take the next step up or extend their role, profile and impact. It aims to create more gender parity in senior leadership within higher education
Leading Educational Change
Leading Educational Change Programme is a leadership program that focuses on collaborative management and delivery of education change projects, enhancing understanding and collaboration.
Leading Educational Change will support and develop staff in positions of strategic responsibility for education delivery and change projects. It will prepare and develop education leaders (both academic and professional) to meet current and emerging challenges in relation to student education and experience, understand sector issues and trends that impact their role and optimise their impact and efficacy in relation to education change.
Vice-Chancellor Transition Programme
Supporting newly appointed Vice-Chancellors to effectively transition into their new roles.
The role of Vice-Chancellor is an increasingly complex and challenging one and has taken on even greater importance in the current rapidly changing environment in which the higher education sector operates.
Changing geo-political forces; adapting to a post-Covid world; increasing competition and the need to build new relationships; all call for a different kind of leadership that builds and sustains inclusion. Confident, capable leaders adapt, grow and diversify their talents, their teams and their institutions to respond to future challenges.
Aimed at complementing the UUK New Vice-Chancellors' programme, the new Vice-Chancellor Transition Programme supports newly appointed Vice-Chancellors in preparing for and transitioning to their new role, helping them become more effective, develop new skills and confidence, and enabling them to lead their institutions effectively right from the start of their tenure.
Enhancing Programme Leadership
This virtual programme aims to support programme leaders at a time when they may be new to leadership, or looking to gain confidence in their leadership skills. It will address their unique challenges, opportunities and realities, by developing their networks and skills and providing tools to enable them to thrive in this unique role.
Strategic Leadership Programme
Developing flexible and resilient leaders
The Strategic Leadership Programme aims to build flexible and resilient leaders, capable of delivering large-scale change, by providing opportunities to share insights, work with a support network of peers and reflect on leadership styles and frameworks for life beyond the programme.
Preparing for Senior Strategic Leadership
Explore and develop your leadership identity
The development of an effective strategic leader in the volatile and challenging HE sector is rooted in their ability to connect with the institution’s purpose. It is through this connection that an effective leader can manage organisational change, develop emotional intelligence and personal resilience, handle sensitive issues and proactively engage in strategic response to sector issues or provocation.
Aurora
Aurora is Advance HE`s leadership development initiative for women.
It is run as a unique partnership bringing together leadership experts and higher education institutions to take positive action to address the under-representation of women in leadership positions in the sector.
Diversifying Leadership
Tackling the under-representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic leaders in HE institutions
This programme is designed to support early-career academics and professional services staff from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds who are about to take their first steps into a leadership role.
It explores themes of power and influence, demystifying leadership, cultural identity and cultural capital, increasing your visibility and authentic leadership and features leadership stories from high-profile HE leaders.
Credible Leadership
This initiative brings to light the challenges that leaders encounter in their professional settings. It goes a step beyond by furnishing participants with both the knowledge and practical skills necessary to bolster their selected career paths, adeptly navigating institutional obstacles.
Becoming a Mentor Workshops
This course introduces mentoring within an institutional context, identifying how to make mentoring effective. It covers best practice guidelines and offers practical advice, along with well-validated tools and techniques for participants to use.
Inclusive Leadership Programme
This interactive, path breaking course equips current and prospective leaders with the knowledge and skills to transform their leadership practices by introducing them to contemporary scholarship and discourses relating to inclusive leadership.
Senior and Principal Fellowship Support Programmes
The programmes will provide guidance, dedicated writing sessions, review of a draft PSF 2023 application with one-to-one feedback, before direct submission to Advance HE.
Senior Fellow Writing Retreat
The online Senior Fellow Writing Retreat is an invaluable opportunity to have the time and space to progress your application to become a Senior Fellow, receiving expert analysis and feedback in the process. Held over one day, the retreat offers you the chance to transform your notes and thoughts into an application that matches Advance HE’s criteria for Senior Fellowship.
Principal Fellow Record of Strategic Educational Impact Support Sessions
The Principal Fellowship Guidance for Record of Strategic Educational Impact support session provides participants with an opportunity to outline and discuss the evidence that they plan to include in an application for Principal Fellowship.
News, views and resources
Your form submission could not be saved. Please try again.
Your form submission has been successful.