Psychology of Education Section Annual Conference 2025
- Education
The Psychology of Education Section Annual Conference 2025 provides a forum for researchers and practitioners with interests in the application of psychology to all stages and types of education to meet, present research findings, and engage in scholarly discussion.
We welcome researchers and practitioners at all stages of their careers to join us, and in particular, provide a friendly and supportive environment for doctoral students and early career researchers to present and discuss their work.
Conference theme
"Psychological Well-being in Education"
This year we have keynotes on this theme from Dr Julia Badger, Professor Neil Humphrey, and the 44th Vernon-Wall lecture will be delivered by Professor Teresa Cremin.
We would be delighted to accept submissions for the conference on the theme of Psychological Well-being in Education, as well as submissions concerning the psychology of education more generally.
This year's conference will be held at
Kent Hill Park Conference Centre,
Timbold Drive
Milton Keynes
MK7 6BZ
If you are interested in presenting at the conference, you can submit an abstract for review.
Please read the information on the Submissions tab before submitting an abstract.
Want to speak to one of the team?
If you have any questions please contact [email protected].
Submissions
Key Submission Dates
- 06 June 2025 - Deadline for doctoral bursary applications
- 13 June 2025 - Deadline for all submissions
- 09 July 2025 - Notification of outcome (symposia, oral presentations, posters and doctoral bursary applications)
- 30 July 2025 - First draft programme released
- 20 August 2025 - Registration deadline
How to Submit
We are accepting the following presentation types:
Symposia
Oral presentations
Poster submissions
Work in Progress
Please ensure you read the submission guidelines before submitting.
Submissions must be made via the online application portal.
- Symposium submissions are completed on a separate form.
Please note: you will need to create an account if this is your first time submitting.
Registration fees
The registration fee includes daily lunches, refreshments and access to all content.
All rates listed are inclusive of VAT at 20%, and exclusive of service charge.
1 Day Attendance
- Concession - £100
- PES Member - £120
- BPS Member - £126
- Non-Member - £155
2 Day Attendance
- Concession (50% off bursary price) - £100
- Concession - £200
- PES Member - £240
- BPS Member - £252
- Non-Member - £310
Please note: booking is being provided by Oxford Abstracts on behalf of BPS.
When booking online you will be directed to Oxford Abstracts.
Both the BPS and Oxford Abstracts terms and conditions and privacy policies will apply.
Want to speak to one of the team?
If you have any questions please contact [email protected]
Professor Neil Humphrey | Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester
Talk Title: Everything we know is wrong: rethinking child and adolescent mental health
Synopsis: There is a major, international public health crisis in relation to child and adolescent mental health. For a number of years, levels of wellbeing have been in decline, and the prevalence of mental health difficulties has been rising. Addressing this crisis has become a major focus in research, policy and practice. However, our current understanding of how to do so is built on a series of assumed truths that have largely gone unchallenged until now. In this keynote presentation, Professor Neil Humphrey will provide a critical analysis of a range of these issues, including what we mean when we talk about mental health, what actually know about secular trends,
how we assess child and adolescent mental health, what causes mental health difficulties, the influence of social media, and the role of schools and school-based interventions.
Bio: Neil Humphrey is Professor of Psychology of Education at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, UK. His research focuses on what we mean by wellbeing, why wellbeing matters, what matters for wellbeing, and what works for wellbeing, in children and young people. Neil's research has been funded by NIHR, ESRC, TNLCF, DfE and others. When he is not working at the University, Neil moonlights as an unpaid taxi driver for his three daughters.
Dr Julia Badger | Department of Education, University of Oxford
Talk Title: Peer power: Understanding and changing bullying dynamics in mainstream and special schools
Synopsis: Bullying is a public health priority. This talk will consider what we know about bullying involvement and impact in both mainstream and special education schools for pupils aged 4-16, but also what we don’t know. It will discuss two UK-based RCTs, the healthy-context paradox, peer network analysis, parent and staff involvement in a new bullying definition and the power of peers to reduce victimisation and improve mental health.
Bio: Dr Julia Badger is a Senior Researcher in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford having previously spent 10 years working in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford. She is interested in supporting children to achieve
their potential at school and works with children aged 4-18 from mainstream and special education schools. She is an advocate for public and community engagement especially when it comes to refining research ideas and developing school resources. Much of her current research focuses on identifying, supporting and monitoring mental health needs of pupils and teachers, and she is a co-lead of the WISDOM research network (Working In Schools to Deliver On Mental health) which connects schools to impactful research. She also studies the impact of peer relationships and networks within a school, on mental health and academic achievement, particularly in relation to bullying.
Professor Teresa Cremin | The Open University & Literacy and Social Justice Centre
Talk: Reading for pleasure: exploring relational connections
Synopsis: Research into young people’s recreational reading evidences a reciprocal relationship between reading engagement and reading achievement, between the will and the skill. The habit of reading in childhood is not only associated with a range of academic benefits (Lindorff et al., 2023; Torppa et al., 2020) but also with enhanced psychological well-being (Kennewell et al., 2022; Sun et al., 2023) and it is thus recognised as a tool for social justice. However, educationalists cannot require children to read for pleasure, and international studies continue to document a decline in young people’s reading dispositions and attitudes (Mullis et al, 2023). Moreover, seen through the lens of such large-scale surveys, reading is framed more as an individual measurable
result than a socially lived experience. So, having set the context, and drawing on studies from a sustained programme of sociocultural reading research at the OU, I will advance an understanding of volitional reading as social, affective and relational. Highlighting informal book talk as a characteristic of inclusive reading communities, I will consider the pedagogical, textual and material factors that enable such spontaneous reader to reader interactions and indicate the rich potential of informal and relational reading for pleasure pedagogies that serve to connect readers and texts.
Bio: Teresa Cremin is Professor of Education (Literacy) at The Open University, UK, and co-Director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre which creates space for research, practice and advocacy to enrich educational opportunities for all. An ex-teacher and teacher trainer, Teresa's sociocultural research mainly focuses on young people's identities as readers and approaches to nurture volitional reading. A Fellow of the English Association, the Academy of Social Sciences, and the Royal Society of the Arts, Teresa is also currently a Trustee of the Reading Agency, the UK Literacy Association, a Great School Libraries Champion and advises the DfE on reading for pleasure. Teresa has published over 30 books, including the edited collection Reading for Pleasure: International Perspectives with S. McGeown (2025). Teresa is passionate about social justice and leads a research and practice coalition from the OU to support the development of children's reading for pleasure which seeks to challenge educational inequities https://ourfp.org/
Bursary
The British Psychological Society, Psychology of Education Section, will offer a number of bursaries for students (undergraduate or postgraduate) who have had a poster or paper accepted for presentation at our annual conference.
Applicants need to be members of the British Psychological Society, members of the Psychology of Education Section and must be registered as a student at a Higher Education Institution.
Details on how to join the Society can be found by visiting:
To download a Section application form, visit:
Bursaries will offer a 50% reduction in the conference fee for delegates choosing to attend the full two-day conference.
Please send a letter of application along with confirmation of your student status (e.g., a letter from your supervisor), by email to [email protected] with 'PES bursary application' in the subject line. Applications must be received by 4pm on 06 June 2025.
Details about accommodation will be available soon.