14 January 2026
The twelfth Livery Education conference was held on 14 January 2026 at Drapers’ Hall. The theme was ‘Helping young people raise their aspirations and prepare for the world of work’. In total about 108 people attended drawn from senior staff at local schools and Livery Company members with ani interest in education. Delegates are directed to tables on arrival to ensure a mix of schools and Livery on each table of typically ten people for discussion sessions.
Delegates were welcomed by Sheriff Keith Bottomley who talked about the importance placed on education by the City of London and by Professor Morag Shiach, Immediate Past Master of the Drapers Company, who described several of the initiatives they offer to members of the Drapers schools. The first presentation was given by Sir Martyn Oliver. the Chief Inspector of Ofsted. He talked about good practice in careers and vocational education in the context of inspections for quality in educational establishments.
Three further presentations addressed how schools might respond to the current important themes in education. Adam Webster of Caterham School talked about how the curriculum might be designed for the future and appropriate tools that might be used such as AI. Edward Darling from the Life Map foundation talked about tools for teaching students about sustainability and linking it to their community. Paddy Willis for the Entrepreneurs’ Company described ways of teaching entrepreneurship to school students.
There were two sessions of table discussions and three opportunities for further networking. Throughout the event there was a good atmosphere with a lot of ideas being shared and many contacts being established.
The evaluation sheets showed that the event was widely appreciated by delegates from both schools and Livery. Responses said that it had been a good or excellent event and all but one said they would like to come again and the one said that they would maybe come. The conference has two different sets of delegates so it is not surprising that different inputs appealed to different groups. A typical school response concluded that ‘it had been a great networking event, very useful and informative.’ Similarly, a typical Livery response referred to the great networking. Ideas have already been given for the programme for next year so the planning will begin.
Two main messages from the event may be summarised as:
- There is a need for better communication between schools and Livery Companies. For instance, schools need more understanding on what Livery Companies can do and details of opportunities offered by the Livery earlier.
- Lasting links between schools and Livery Companies are important.
A big thank you to the Drapers’ Company for hosting this event and there were many comments about what a super venue the event was held in.