5 February 2026 at the Eastside Rooms, Birmingham.
This year’s conference will explore what it means for trust leaders to take the long view and plan for the future with clarity, resilience, and purpose. As the sector navigates significant reform and a changing funding landscape, the conference will explore how trusts can plan strategically for long-term sustainability and maintain their focus on delivering high-quality education for every child.
Delegates will hear from leading policymakers, sector experts, and peers, and will leave with greater insight, practical tools and renewed confidence to navigate change and shape strategies that will strengthen their trusts for the decade ahead.
Hear from some of today's leading educational thinkers
Give you and your leadership team time to re-think how your trust works
Connect with colleagues from school trusts across the country
Engage with innovative providers to the school trust sector
This conference is an extension of CST's Finance and Operations professional communities - unique spaces for school trust staff to network, share, and learn, all year round. Community membership is an integral part of CST membership.
Chief Operating Officer / CFO, Ormiston Academies Trust
Chief Operating Officer / CFO, Ormiston Academies Trust
Jo Dawson started her career training as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Birmingham, after being educated at the University of Birmingham. She joined the trust in 2019 from the private sector where she had held a number of senior global leadership roles. Jo’s previous role was at Jaguar Land Rover Overseas where she was responsible for an annual turnover of £6 billion. Having been a chair of governors at an academy in Birmingham for 10 years, Jo is now a co-opted member of the audit and risk committee at the University of Liverpool.
In her role as Chief Operating Officer / CFO at Ormiston Acadmies Trust, she performs all aspects of the role of Chief Financial Officer in addition to having responsibility for all areas of operational activity outside of educational delivery. This includes leading the following professional services: estates management, governance, IT, administration, communications, HR, and finance.
Research Fellow, The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
Research Fellow, The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
Luke is a research fellow attached to the Education, Employment and Evaluation sector. His general research interests include education policy, political economy and poverty and inequality. In the recent past, he has conducted research into the following specific areas: school funding; the impact of the home learning environment on child outcomes; trends in top incomes; trends in child poverty and income inequality; and the politics of tax policy.
Senior Fellow, Institute for Government
Senior Fellow, Institute for Government
Sam Freedman is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and writes regularly on politics and policy for Prospect, New Statesman, TES, FT, Guardian and Sunday Times. Sam and his father, Lawrence Freedman, co-author their popular Substack newsletter ‘Comment is Freed’ which has over 33,000 subscribers. Previously he was CEO of Education Partnerships Group, which supports governments in sub-Saharan Africa to develop education policy and was an executive director at Teach First. He worked at the Department for Education as a senior policy adviser to Michael Gove between 2010 and 2013. Sam is also a senior adviser to the education charity Ark; Vice-Chair of Ambition Institute; and a trustee of the Holocaust Educational Trust.
For details about commercial tickets, please contact conference@cstuk.org.uk.
CST members only: Full conference access including keynotes, workshops, lunch, and resources
Book your place£420 inc VAT at 20%
CST members only: Full conference access including keynotes, workshops, lunch, and resources plus a networking dinner the night before the conference
Book your place£474 inc VAT at 20%
Non-CST member place for conference including keynotes, workshops, and lunch
Book your place£492 inc VAT at 20%
Our conference takes place at the Eastside Rooms, Birmingham.
We recommend using public transport wherever possible to attend. The venue is within Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone and there may be additional fees for driving to the venue.
Eastside Rooms
2 Woodcock Street
Birmingham
B7 4BL
The conference takes place on 5 February 2026.
Delegate registration will begin at 08:30 with the main programme running approximately 09:15 to 16:00.
Delegate places include full access to conference main sessions, workshops, and exhibition, plus refreshments, and lunch during the day.
Overnight accommodation is not included and delegates are responsible for their own travel arrangements.
The event programme is provisional and subject to change. Booking terms and conditions apply.
Imagery is from past events and may not reflect future programmes.
Confederation of School Trusts · Registered in England & Wales, company no: 05303883 · Charity no: 1107640.
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