Call for Papers: Apprenticeships in Higher Education Conference 2026, Queen's University Belfast [Hybrid]

Queen's University Belfast is hosting a two-day conference on Apprenticeships in Higher Education on 6 and 7 October 2026. The call for papers is being advertised to the membership of the Society of Legal Scholars, which lists calls for papers on behalf of academics rather than organising this conference itself.

Degree and higher apprenticeships, called higher level apprenticeships in Northern Ireland, are widely seen as a route to social mobility because they allow a student to study while earning a wage. The call notes that apprentices typically earn a relatively low salary but benefit from those earnings and from higher later earnings once study is complete, usually gaining a degree level qualification along the way. The stated premise is that apprenticeships encourage people who could not otherwise afford to study to do so.

The organisers describe this as an opportune moment for academics to rethink apprenticeship. With the loss of level 7 (master's level) apprenticeship funding in England, the call argues that the route between education and work needs reimagining, and that there is now an opening to reflect on what has worked well and what has not, and to share best practice.

The call frames this as a tipping point at which educators might redevelop the apprenticeship programmes that continue, and at which the academic community can come together to articulate the benefits of such programmes with one voice. Apprenticeships, it argues, allow vocational education and skills-based learning to be integrated into higher education, and a university education as opposed to on-the-job training may bring unique benefits to employers and to industry more generally.

• Stories of apprenticeships and their successes
• Programme design and scheduling
• Work based learning and assessment
• Employee-employer-university relationship dynamics
• History of apprenticeships
• Gender and apprenticeships
• Apprenticeships, firms and professions

The organisers state that this is a non-exhaustive list and that other topics related to apprenticeships are welcomed.

The call states that the conference is built around discussion. It is conceived as a forum for academics to think aloud together and is built around round-table debate rather than the podium. The stated aim is not only to present, but to debate, to problem-solve, and to leave with shared thinking that the academic community can take forward.

The conference will be held in person and hybrid, so participants who cannot travel to Belfast can take part remotely.

The call for papers is open to academics across disciplines and is not restricted to law. It is, however, being circulated through the Society of Legal Scholars, the learned society for law academics in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and two of the four organisers are legal academics.

Victoria Barnes is based in the School of Law at Queen's University Belfast, where she is Associate Dean of Education, and works on legal history alongside contract, commercial and corporate law. Caroline Hood is an Assistant Professor in Northumbria School of Law whose work centres on experiential and work-based learning in legal education; she previously served as Director of Education for Apprenticeships and led the design and development of the Northumbria Solicitor Higher Apprenticeship. Lisa Bradley is based at Queen's Business School and Lucy Newton at Henley Business School.

Send a 250 word abstract and a one page CV to Ruth Bright at r.bright@qub.ac.uk by 31 July 2026. The Society of Legal Scholars calls for papers listing records the deadline as Friday 31 July 2026.

The call for papers does not state a co-authorship policy, a word limit for full papers, or an outlet in which accepted papers will be published.

There is no fee to submit an abstract; submissions are made by email. The call for papers does not state whether a conference registration fee will be charged to selected participants, and it does not mention travel funding or accommodation. Applicants who need to know the registration cost before committing should raise it with the organisers at the contact address below.

Note that the Society of Legal Scholars event listing shows the date as Tuesday 6 October 2026, while the final call for papers document states that the conference runs on both 6 and 7 October 2026. The call for papers is the later and fuller document, and is followed here.