With national curriculum reform due to be introduced from 2028, education leaders and employers will gather in Liphook later this month to debate how schools must adapt for a rapidly changing world.

Raising the Future will take place at Highfield and Brookham School on April 28, against the backdrop of Government reforms expected to reshape both the curriculum and how pupil achievement is judged. Organisers say the conference has been convened amid rising concern that the education system is struggling to prepare young people for further study and work.

The conference will focus on how learning frameworks might evolve, with discussions ranging from the role of essential skills in the curriculum to questions over the future of GCSEs. Other sessions will examine the impact of artificial intelligence on education and work, the importance of emotional intelligence, and the influence of social media on children’s development.

Speakers are drawn from across sectors, including Sarah Clarke, chief operating officer for media and entertainment at ITV; Darren Coxon, founder of CoxonAI; Will Goldsmith, head of Bedales School; Evelyn Haywood, director of education at Skills Builder Partnership; and Sophie Winkleman, actress, author and commentator. The conference will be chaired by Lawrence Deju-Wiseman, professor-in-the-field at the University of Connecticut.

Suzannah Cryer, head of Highfield and Brookham School, said discussion now needed to be matched by action.

“There has been a great deal of debate about education for the future, but far less focus on how change will actually be implemented,” she said. “Children leaving school will be entering a very different world of work, and education must evolve if it is to support them.”

The conference is open to educators from the state and independent sectors, along with employers and policymakers, with subsidised places available for state school teachers.