To register, please visit the Boarding School Concern website.
The annual Boarding School Survivors Conference will return on Saturday 7 November 2026, bringing together former boarders, therapists, advocates and specialists for a day of reflection, learning and connection.
Following record attendance in 2025, this year’s conference moves to a larger venue at 20 Cavendish Square, London, headquarters of the Royal College of Nursing, just behind Oxford Street. Organisers say the new location will allow for a wider range of breakout groups and more flexibility in how attendees connect and participate.
Exploring the Lasting Impact of Boarding School
This year’s programme brings together leading voices in the boarding school survivors field, with talks exploring identity, relationships, healing and the long shadow of institutional childhoods.
Among the keynote speakers is Nick Duffell, often described as a pioneer in work with former boarders. He will speak on Managing the Shadows, exploring how The Night Manager and its recent sequel reveal what he describes as the strategic survival personality — adaptations many former boarders may recognise in themselves.
Representing Out of Bounds, John Shirley and Rachel Godfrey will discuss the importance of former boarders telling and witnessing one another’s stories. Their session will explore how healing can emerge through vulnerability, shared experience and safely held group spaces. They will also facilitate an afternoon creative writing workshop.
John Stanley, a director of Boarding School Concern, will speak about Lost Voices Heard, a group of former boarders challenging their former school and seeking accountability.
Psychotherapist Helena Thomas will explore the often-overlooked impact of boarding school experiences on adult relationships, including dynamics between former boarders and their partners. She will also lead an afternoon discussion group on the subject.
Afternoon Groups: Relationships, Identity and Creativity
Conference attendees will be able to choose from a wider selection of facilitated discussion and experiential groups this year, with places selected during registration.
Topics include:
- Help! I’m Living With an Ex-Boarder — exploring the experience of partners and relationships, facilitated by Helena Thomas
- Third Culture Kids — identity, belonging and the effects of growing up between cultures, with Nicky Moxey
- The Ex-Boarder as Offspring and Parent — understanding boarding’s cross-generational impact, with Rosemary Lamaison
- Non-Boarders Affected by Boarding — a dedicated group for partners, friends and family members, facilitated by Sara Warner
- Creative Writing for Healing — with the Out of Bounds team
- Returning Home to Self — a Movement Medicine session led by Carolyn Wood, returning after strong feedback from previous years
- Readings from Sent Away — a new poetry collection featuring readings by Paul Fray and contributing authors
- Sculpture as Self-Expression — led by Tristram Thirkell, including an exhibition
A Trauma-Informed Space
Organisers acknowledge that conferences exploring boarding school experiences can sometimes evoke difficult emotions or memories.
As former boarders themselves, the organisers have emphasised that trauma-informed support will be available throughout the day, including opportunities to step away, take breaks and receive informed support if needed.
For many attendees, the conference offers something rare: the chance to be among others who understand the unique and often lifelong impact of boarding school experiences.
With expanded space and an ambitious programme, Conference 2026 looks set to be one of the largest gatherings yet for those seeking understanding, healing and connection after boarding school.
For further details and to register, please visit the Boarding School Concern website.
