InForm Conference
InForm Conference 2025
Theme: TBC
Date: TBC
Location: King's College London
Previous InForm conferences:
InForm Conference 2024
Theme: ‘Are the rules of engagement changing? The challenges to student engagement in 2024’
Host: University of Leeds
Date: Saturday 8 June
For presentation titles, abstracts, timings and publisher details, please see the overview:
Download the InForm Conference 2024 Overview
InForm Conference 2023
Theme: The changing nature and expectations of students in a changing world: transforming and being transformed.
Host: University of Bristol
Date: Saturday 3 June
The aim of this conference was to bring together a collection of research and ideas related to the international foundation and pathway programmes (IFP) as well as providing an opportunity for interacting and sharing practice with colleagues from the wider IFP community.
Plenary speaker: Pro Vice-Chancellor Education, Tansy Jessop, University of Bristol
Download the InForm Conference 2023 Schedule
InForm Conference 2022
Theme: Enhancing inclusivity in the IFP
Host: International Foundation Programme, University of Reading.
The 2022 InForm Conference, which saw 12 presentations given, began with Bruce Howell’s keynote address, exploring the complexity of ensuring inclusivity in a UK-based IFP delivered outside the UK. Other presentation topics included the use of an Accessibility Reporting Form, exploration of controversial topics to develop critical thinking, and module redesign with a focus on sustainability.
For presentation titles, abstracts, timings and publisher details, please see the schedule:
Download InForm Conference 2022 Schedule
InForm Conference 2021
Theme: Student support and experience: In and outside the classroom
Host: International Foundation Programme, University of Reading.
This one day event includes 12 presentations in two parallel streams and a plenary presentation by Professor Christina Hughes. There is also a panel discussion titled: Themes and trends of the sector at the moment, challenges and opportunities beyond recruitment for 2021 and beyond. Publishers will be present sharing the latest publications relevant to the sector and the day will provide opportunities for interaction and sharing of practice with colleagues from the IFP community.
For presentation titles, abstracts, timings and publisher details, please see the schedule:
Download InForm Conference Online 2021 Schedule
Conference fee £20
Registration
Register online at the University of Kent online store here:
University of Kent online Store
Queries should be emailed to headintprogs@kent.ac.uk
InForm Conference 2019
Theme: Evolution of International Foundation Programmes - recognising a new environment and adapting to change
29 June 2019, University of Reading UK and Malaysia campuses
This 10th InForm Conference provided an opportunity to consider how IFPs have changed as universities and the needs of international students have also changed. In particular the development of transnational education (TNE) featured strongly and this was reflected in the event being held simultaneously in Reading and Malaysia where the University of Reading runs an offshore IFP. The opening plenary featuring a panel of experts from the University of Reading, University of Birmingham and Queen Mary University of London video linked to Malaysia and provided a discussion about offshore delivery of IFPs. The keynote address of the event was given by Dr Anthony Manning the Dean for Internationalisation at the University of Kent. This was fitting for our 10th conference as Dr Manning ran the first InForm Conference in 2010. His consideration of quality and innovation in the delivery of international pathway programmes highlighted the research, development and work that many put into this dynamic area of education.
Below you will find slides for the talks
Reading Event
Download programme here:
2019 InForm Conference Brochure Reading
Session | Further information |
Opening plenary. Elisabeth Wilding, University of Reading. Bruce Howell, University of Reading (Malaysia campus). Stephen Minchin, Birmingham International Academy. Mike Groves, Birmingham International Academy. Kathryn Richardson, Queen Mary University of London. |
'International' delivery of International Foundation Programmes - I2FP If IFPs are already international, what is different about transnational education (TNE) models of IFP delivery? |
Keynote. Dr Anthony Manning, University of Kent. | Quality and Innovation for international Pathway Programs: Good Practice and Recommendations for the Future in the UK Context and Beyond. |
Session 1a. Nicholas Hyder, MGIMO University, Russia | Slides currently unavailable |
Session 1b. Jane Ward, University of Reading | Students' misinterpretation of written feedback on their degree programmes: can IFPs do more to help? |
Session 1c. Miriam Schwiening and Anna Tranter, Warwick University | Supporting IFP students with the transition to UG study: adapting the lecture format through TEL |
Session 2a. Elizabeth Allen and Maxine Gillway, University of Bristol | Transforming the IFP: From evolution to revolution |
Session 2b. Kalai Mathi Yesupatham, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China | Preliminary Year: A needs analysis for creating an enhanced spoken English environment |
Session 2c. Emdad Aziz and Alison Buckman, INTO Exeter. | An Investigation on the importance of the On Line Assessment in the E learning process |
Session 3a. Dr Anthony Manning, University of Kent (as a replacement for Alys Kowalik who could not attend) | Slides currently unavailable |
Session 3b. Jill Haldane and Philip Davies, University of Edinburgh. | Slides currently unavailable |
Session 3c. Lee Clark University of Surrey | Slides currently unavailable |
Session 4a. Julien Boville, Nottingham Trent International College | Slides currently unavailable |
Session 4b. Joanna Norton and Dan Bernstein, Language Centre, University of the Arts. | Situating language learning in the studio |
Session 4c. Mary Whitsell, University of Nottingham, Ningbo China | Conference 2019 Slides Session 4c Mary Whitsell |
Session 5a. Natalie Drake and Noor Mat Nayan, University of Reading | Are changes necessary to enhance student engagement on the IFP? |
Session 5b. Peter Sturman, University of Nottingham, Ningbo China. | Transition and Adaption: What do students think? |
Session 5c. Mike Groves, Birmingham International Academy | Google Translate - what do the wider academic Community think? |
Malaysia Event
Download programme here:
2019 InForm Conference Programme Malaysia
Session | Further information |
Closing plenary. Elisabeth Wilding, University of Reading. Bruce Howell, University of Reading (Malaysia campus). Stephen Minchin, Birmingham International Academy. Mike Groves, Birmingham International Academy. Kathryn Richardson, Queen Mary University of London. |
'International' delivery of International Foundation Programmes - I2FP If IFPs are already international, what is different about transnational education (TNE) models of IFP delivery? |
Session 1. Chris Macallister, Antonia Paterson and Yuan Hu, Xi'an Jiatong-Liverpool University. | The Evolution of a 'Glocalised' Transnational Foundation Programme?: curriculum, professional standards & philosophy |
Session 2. Nee Nee Chan, Gogilavaani Jothi Veeraman and Faindra Abdul Jabbar, Quest international University. | Experiential Learning and the Google Generation |
Session 3. Bruce Howell, University of Reading Malaysia. | Conference Slides 2019 Providing a UK IFP experience in Malaysia - successes and challenges |
Session 4. Yaijing Guo, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University | Translanguaging as a Pedagogy used in a Chinese Language Classroom |
Session 5. Joanne Ningjuan Wang, Xi'an jiaotong-Liverpool University. | Enhancing Students' Critical Thinking and Engagement via Research Projects and Exposure to Social Media |
InForm Conference 2018
Theme: Innovative ideas for enhanced student engagement
30 June 2018, Birmingham International Academy at the University of Birmingham
The 9th Annual InForm Conference was hosted by the Birmingham International Academy (BIA) at the University of Birmingham and gained a lot of interest. The packed programme comprised 18 talks in 3 parallel sessions and two keynote speakers. With 108 delegates attending this was our biggest event and we'd like to thank Mike Groves and the team from BIA for organising the event so well. Unfortunately our second keynote speaker Ursula Wingate was unable to attend and we'd like to thank Mike Groves for stepping in at the last minute to deliver the second keynote session. Massive thanks to all the speakers and those presenting posters. Links to the slides and content of sessions are below, along with posters, where they have been made available to us.
Download programme here:
Inform Conference programme 2018
Session | Further information |
Keynote Address 1. Dr Vikki Burns, Reader in Science Education, School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham. | Not a problem to be fixed |
Keynote Address 2. Mike Groves, College Programmes Manager, Birmingham International Academy, University of Birmingham. | Building transition into course design |
Session 1a. Maria Hussain, University of Leeds. | Assessed reflective writing; friend or foe? |
Session 1b. Aysen Gilroy, Zayed University. | An online study skills course |
Session 1c. Clare Poulson, University of Leeds. | Unfortunately Clare was unable to attend and present. |
Session 2a. Deirdre McKenna, University of Sussex. |
Conference From IFY to FY with Home Students: Challenges & Strategies - An EAP Tutor's Experience |
Session 2b. Matthew lemon, University of York. |
Highlighting the factors that can make Foundation writers' English appear unacademic |
Session 2c. Liz Wilding, University of Reading. | The university food transition. What tools can we provide? |
Session 3a. Shuna I. A. Neilson, Richmond The American International University in London. | |
Session 3b. Elizabeth Allen and Ruth Taylor, University of Bristol. | Problem-Based Learning: solving the problem of preparing high-level students for undergraduate study. |
Session 3c. Jenny Hirst, University of Leeds. | Currently unavailable |
Session 4a. Kerry Tavakoli, University of St andrews. | Currently unavailable |
Session 4b. Sebastian Kzbi and Michael Salmon, University of Liverpool. | Currently unavailable |
Session 4c. Clare Nukui and Martin Miller,Oxford Brookes University. |
Questions of transition and liminality on Foundation Programmes - Part 1 Questions of transition and liminality on Foundation Programmes - Part 2 |
Session 5a. Hannah Gurr and Sarah Brain, University of Bristol. |
1) Slides: Library? What library? Effectively developing IFP students' library skills |
Session 5b. Julia Clifford, University College Birmingham | Currently unavailable |
Session 5c. Sandra Leigh, University of Nottingham. | Foundation Programmes as Socialisation Structures: understanding the first year experiences of post-EAP Foundation students |
Session 6a. Paula Villegas, University of Sheffield. |
1) Slides: Using Legitimation Code Theory to Enhance Students' Academic Writing 2) HANDOUT |
Session 6b. Felicia Heard and Dr Rebecca Hooker, INTO, University of Exeter. | Developing 'soft' transferable skills to achieve 'hard' targets through cultural and community engagement |
Session 6c. Dave Watton and Jake Groves, Birmingham International Academy, University of Birmingham. | DISCERN: The Discerning Student |
Poster: Salmah Yakoob, Coventry University. |
Providing tools to reference accurately: observations of citation practices of IFP students |
Poster: Emdad Aziz, INTO University of Exeter. | Peer Review: A Tool for Success in Transition to University |
Poster: Richard Cotterill, International Pathway College, University of York. | The significance of power-distance: teaching students from China |
Poster: Nadia Sucha, International Pathway College, University of York. | Chinese Foundation Students. Previous English-learning experience |
InForm Conference 2017 Theme: Innovative ideas for enhanced student engagement
15 July 2017, University of Reading & University of Reading Malaysia
The 8th Annual InForm Conference had two parallel events on the same day, one in Malaysia at the new University of Reading Malaysia campus and the other at the University of Reading Whiteknights Campus. The two events were linked via video for the first keynote talk in Reading. The day proved to be exciting and interesting with a great deal of sharing of practices on different IFPs. Student engagement is driving a lot of what tutors do and the value of it was very evident during the day. We'd like to particularly thank our keynote speakers for opening the morning and afternoon sessions in such a stimulating way.
Below you will find the slides for the talks:
Reading event
InForm Conference 2017 programme Reading
Malaysia Event
InForm Conference 2017 programme Malaysia
Session | Further information |
Session 1. Nabila Shariff, University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus. |
Positive student engagement through workshops centered on developing intercultural awareness |
Session 2. Peter Sturman, University of Nottingham, Ningbo China. | Early intervention in student disengagement |
Session 3. Eoin Patrick, Xi'an-Jiaotong Liverpool University. | Online peer assessment to promote student engagement outside the classroom |
Session 4. Saleha Abdul Rahman, Nottingham University Malaysia Campus | Low-tech for high engagement: Gratitude practices to enhance autonomous learning |
Session 5. Bruce Howell, Associate professor of Language Assessment and head of FSLI, University of Reading. |
Round table - enhancing student engagement on IFPs No material currently available |
Keynote Address 1. Professor Colin Bryson, Director of Combined Honours Centre, Newcastle University and Chair and founder of Raise. |
Inform 2016
The Seventh Inform Conference took place on Saturday 16 July 2016 at Durham University and was themed Working with Words: Supporting understanding of discipline-specific vocabulary in IFPs. A big thanks to Megan Bruce, Julie Wilson and the rest of the team in Durham University Foundation Centre for organising a stimulating, highly enjoyable and well run conference. Thanks also to the excellent speakers and contributors for their informative and thought provoking talks, sessions and posters.
The day featured two keynote addresses, 10 sessions and workshops and 3 posters. The opening keynote address was by Professor Mike McCarthy, Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nottingham titled The vocabulary of academic speaking: an interdisciplinary perspective. After lunch Dr Dawn Knight, Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at Cardiff University delivered the second keynote address titled The application of corpora: supporting and informing the pedagogic landscape.
Summaries of all the talks can be found here: InForm Conference 2016 Programme and the presentation slides can be downloaded from the links below.
Presentation slides and handouts:
Posters:
Author | Poster download link |
Julie Wilson, Teaching Fellow at the Foundation Centre Durham University. | To teach or not to teach: the effectiveness of overtly teaching formulaic phrasing in academic practice |
Rina F. de Vries and Veronica Raffin, EAP tutors at BIA, University of Birmingham. | Specialist knowledge: an interactive approach |
Inform 2015
The Sixth Inform Conference took place on Saturday 11 July 2015 at the University of Reading and was themed Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) on the IFP. It featured two keynote addresses and 15 sessions and workshops.
The opening keynote address was by Dr Paul Thompson of the Centre for Corpus Research at the University of Birmingham titled The potential for corpus enhanced learning on the IFP. After lunch Chris Cavey and Sara Pierson of the British Council delivered the second keynote address titled Strategy and Impact: lessons the British Council is learning from running MOOCs.
Summaries of all the talks can be found here: Inform Conference Programme 2015
Articles based on the talks are included in Download InForm.
Inform 2014
The Fifth Inform Conference took place on Saturday 19th July 2014 at the University of Kent.
The theme of the conference was:
Assessment as a tool for learning on the IFP
There was a plenary delivered by Dr Sara Hannam and Birgit den Outer from ASKe, the Assessment Standards Knowledge exchange at Oxford Brooke's University
Please see the following documents from the Inform 2014 conference:
Investigating research into EAP Assessment Literacy - Anthony Manning
A tale of two cities - Carla Morris and Sebastien Cadinot
Assessment Literacy in International Contexts - Dr Sara Hannam and Birgit den Outer
Critiquing the Crit - Julie Mecoli
Developing critical thinking under test conditions - Sandra Leigh
Student Reflection as an Assessment Tool - Nancy Woods and Anne Stazickes
InForm 2013
The fourth Inform Conference took place on Saturday 20 July 2013 at the University of Reading
What do IFP students need? Finding a balance between linguistic and content teaching: how much and when?
Across the UK, a range of IFP providers are helping to prepare international students for their undergraduate or postgraduate studies. A wide variation exists in provision but what do students really need? The InForm Conference 2013 aims to explore what is the right balance between linguistic and content input; what combination of language, study skills and content is best?
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Dave Burnapp, Associate Lecturer, University of Northampton, National Teaching Fellow (HEA)
Russian Matryoshka Nesting Dolls: In this presentation Dave will develop an analogy based on Matryoshka dolls to explore the different forms of knowledge and learning outcomes which International Foundation Programmes might try to engender.
Professor Elspeth Jones, Emerita Professor of the Internationalisation of Higher Education and international education consultant
IFP and the transition to UK academic culture: Bridge, ferry or ford? Elspeth will consider how the structure and content of international foundation programmes can support a diverse range of students as they make the transition to university study.
InForm Conference 2013 Programme of Events
2013 Provisional Conference Programme
Hear what delegates of the conference had to say about InForm:
InForm Conference 2012:
Is Teaching and Learning Enough? Can additional elements aid the transition from a foundation programme to university study?
The third InForm conference took place on Friday 20 July 2012 at Newcastle University.
Thanks to all of the speakers and presenters, and to Steven Herron and his team at Newcastle for organising such an interesting and stimulating day.
Across the UK a range of foundation providers, teachers and staff are helping to prepare international learners for their undergraduate or postgraduate studies. Yet learning academic English and other components of subject modules only form a part of the learning process. This conference aimed to bring together and critically explore the impact that additional activities (teaching and non-teaching) can bring to enhance the students before progressing to university study.
Most of the presentations are available to view below.
Opening speakers
Dr Felicity Breet, Associate Dean, Faculty of Education and Society, University of Sunderland. Breaking in or breaking the mould?
Professor Vivian Baumfield, Professor of Pedagogy Policy and Innovation, University of Glasgow. Synthesising sources and developing an argument: reflections on supervising international students
Dr Peter Sercombe, Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University. Aiming for non-essentialised intercultural adjustment among international postgraduates
Conference programme
The draft programme summarises the main presentations at the conference.
Speaker | Downloadable slides |
Lee Hawkes, Queen Mary University |
Acculturative Strategies and Experiences of International Students |
Josh Lange, University College London | Service Learning and Social Entrepeneurship in Foundation |
Julie Wilson and Alison McManus, Durham University | Additional language Support for Foundation Students |
Ann Smith, University of Nottingham | Who's in Charge? |
Chrisopher Copland and Huw Llewellyn Jones, University of York | English for Integration into the Campus Community: A Video Project |
Maggie Holmes ,York Saint John University; Wendy Altinors ,Leeds Metropolitan University; Anthony Flint, Teesside University | Organising a Conference for International Foundation Students: aims and benefits |
Steven Herron, Newcastle University | Reflective Learning: Seeking Metacognition in Reflective Practice |
Tatyana Karpenko-Seccombe, University of Huddersfield | Critical Thinking in EAP |
Alison Leslie, University of Leeds |
InForm Conference 2011: Internationalisation - how far can it go?
The second InForm Conference took place at the University of Reading on Saturday 16 July.
Keynote: How the 'Teaching International Students' project suggests a way of improving learning for all
The plenary session was delivered by Jude Carroll from Oxford Brookes University, who represented the Teaching International Students Project (TIS).
Please download her presentation here: Teaching International Students Project
Presentations
You can download the online InForm conference programme or view the presentations below.
Session information |
Testing, Testing, 1,2,3...Chris Walklett 'Teach them to think': critical reading skills for international foundation students through the use of evaluation checklistsJohn Hall and Sandra Leigh |
From intercultural awareness to global citizenship: engaging home students and staff in the process of internationalisationEdward Bressan and Louise Green Whose 'English' in English for Academic Purposes?Stuart Perrin |
Going the distance: Nigerian disabled scholarship students and their transition to foundation studiesVictoria Crane and Betty Alali Odema Internationalising the seminar: Communicative Strategies from EAP across the CurriculumEllie Kennedy |
Internationalisation - to the classroom and beyond!Maxine Gillway Teaching Thinking Skills: A practitioner enquiry into the effectiveness of TS for postgraduate pathway students.Steven Herron |
InForm conference 2010: The challenges ahead
The first InForm conference took place at the University of Reading on Saturday 17 July 2010. The event included seminars and workshops on themes related to international foundation programmes, commencing with a keynote address by Rebecca Smith of UK NARIC. It was an interesting day with a wide variety of topics presented over two parallel sessions, and provided an opportunity to meet and share ideas with others from the IFP sector over lunch. Highlights from the conference are featured in InForm issue 6.