The RCN Education Conference & Exhibition 2025 in Glasgow was a real celebration of innovation, collaboration, and commitment across the nursing education community. Held at Glasgow Caledonian University’s Technology and Innovation Centre, the event brought together educators, researchers, clinical leaders, and students from across the UK, all united by a shared purpose — to strengthen nursing education and prepare the current workforce and our student nurses, next generation of practitioners, for an ever-changing healthcare landscape.

I had the privilege of chairing several sessions, which is always a rewarding professional experience every time I get chance to do so. There’s something uniquely energising about facilitating discussion among passionate educators, each bringing insights from their own contexts — from curriculum reform and digital learning, to wellbeing and belonging in practice.

One session that particularly memorable session was, “A Time, A Place and A Face: Evaluation results of an innovative placement allocation model for pre-registration adult-field student nurses”, presented by the University of East Anglia. Their work tackled one of the most persistent challenges in nurse education: student attrition. Attrition remains a national concern, with around a quarter of nursing students not completing their programmes. Hill and Sankey tackled this through “A Time, A Place and A Face” — a placement model built to enhance belonging, predictability and connection. Students could choose their placement location (A Place), received rotas four weeks ahead (A Time), and had regular contact with a named Clinical Educator (A Face). Drawing on mixed-method data from six NHS Trusts, the evaluation revealed powerful human outcomes: students felt more “seen” and “valued,” while staff reported stronger relationships and clearer roles in supporting learning.

As Chair, it was a pleasure to facilitate the discussion that followed. The audience engagement was encouraging — questions ranged from scalability and workforce implications to how such approaches could be embedded into national placement strategies. What I appreciated most was how grounded the project was: deeply practical and responsive to the lived realities of students and educators alike.

The broader conference echoed similar themes of belonging, compassion, and creativity in education. Across every session, there was a palpable sense of community and shared purpose. Between plenaries and coffee breaks, I met colleagues from across the British Isles who are quietly driving change in their own institutions, often with limited resources but limitless enthusiasm.

Leaving Glasgow, I felt both inspired and reassured — inspired by the hard work and dedication of colleagues taking place in nursing education, during a period of employment insecurity and increased workloads, and despite these issues I felt reassured by the kindness and professionalism that underpin both formal higher education and workplace learning.

Chairing sessions at the RCN Education Conference reminded me why this community matters so much: because every conversation, every connection, and every shared idea helps us build a stronger, more inclusive future for nursing education.