Futures Festival events

Our brand-new Futures Festival 2026 is open to all student year groups and disciplines and will include a wide range of careers and employability, innovation and entrepreneurship activities, and resources delivered in-person, online or available on demand.

Whatever your course subject - from sport to creative, engineering and technology, business or science - there are workshops, sessions and skills boosting opportunities that will help to set you up for success.

Futures Festival schedule

Whether you want to focus on employability skills such as networking or interview techniques; meet employers; develop a business start-up, or tap into your creative side, there is something for everyone during the week.

Watch out for more details to follow!

Why attend Futures Festival?

Changes in the academic calendar year mean that Week 0 between Semesters 1 and 2 (Monday 26 – Friday 30 January 2026) has been dedicated to professional and personal skills development that build confidence for your life during and after uni. This is an exciting opportunity to explore your career paths, get involved in entrepreneurship activities and develop vital skills for success.

And it doesn’t end there; more events, workshops and employer activities will take place on campus and remotely in the following weeks: Monday 2 – Friday 27 February 2026.

Even better, the University’s exclusive, extra-curricular Personal Best Award will be embedded into these activities, alongside other certificates, prizes, incentives and micro-credentials. On completion, the Award becomes part of your degree transcript at graduation - helping you to stand out to future employers, too!

Frequently asked questions

Yes! This week is designed to give you dedicated time to explore different aspects of careers and skills, all of which will help you on your pathway to success.

Yes! There will be sessions designed to help you explore your business ideas, build enterprising skills and support your start-up as well as connect with our enterprise community. Visit the Events schedule to find out more.

Log into Target Connect and search for the session you want to go to, then book yourself on!

Futures Festival is open to all students from any year group or discipline, whether that is undergraduate or postgraduate. Where a session is specific to a year group it will say on the description. To check, log into Target Connect and search for the session you want to go to.

No – Futures Festival is about more than your career; it is about giving you the time and opportunity to develop your skills and build confidence for your life during and after uni. Inclusivity is at the heart of Futures Festival, and every student is welcome to come along to the sessions and get support that will enhance your key skills and enable you to thrive in your studies and employment.

Futures Festival will have a mix of delivery formats so that you can still get involved with any of the live online and on demand events and activities planned. Visit the events schedule to find out more.

We want to make sure that as many students as possible can get involved in Futures Festival and access the amazing range of events and activities going on. Therefore, we have scheduled the start of the week to be lighter, with majority of sessions starting from Wednesday onwards. There will also be a mix of delivery formats – from in-person, live online and on demand available – so that you can still engage and make the most of the week. Visit the events schedule to find out more.