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emagazine Conference for A Level Language, 2025, London

Date
27 Nov 2025 (UK)
Availability
Places available
Price
£25 per student
Location
Friends House, London

Please see the points under ‘Make sure you are ready to book’. It includes useful information on the sort of account you need to be signed into, the 20% non-refundable deposit and when the school will be invoiced for the balance payment.The conference will begin at 10.20am and finish by 3.30pm. 

Booking enquires

General booking enquires:

Email us

Programme enquiries:

Email Dan

Programme and Speakers

The conference will begin at 10.20am and finish by 3.30pm. 

10.20am

Take seats and introduction to the conference

10.30-11am

George Bailey: Dialects and machines: using technology to classify regional variation

Can we train computational models to identify where a speaker is from based on properties of their dialect? What does this tell us about how dialects are changing and losing their distinctiveness over time? In this talk, I explore an innovative approach to the study of dialect levelling, applying techniques from ‘machine learning’ to a large database of regional variation from the Our Dialects project.

11.05-11.35am

Louise Mullany: Gender and politeness

11.35-12pm

BREAK

12-12.30pm

Jasmine Andersson: Are accents dying out?

In recent years, several news articles have claimed that accents are dying out in the UK. In a country renowned for its accent diversity, this has been viewed as a cause for concern. This talk will interrogate this claim, looking into what is really happening to the UK's most cherished accents, as well as the number of exciting new accents and dialects that are coming to the fore.

12.35-1.15pm

Simon Horobin: Studying language change over time

This talk will look in detail at some of the major changes that have affected the English Language at the levels of pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary and grammar and consider the various possible causes. It will also engage with theoretical questions concerning the nature of linguistic variation and change, the role of Standard English, descriptive and prescriptive attitudes, and the status of different registers and varieties, and consider their significance in attempting to explain linguistic change.

1.15-2.15pm

LUNCH

2.15-2.45pm

Panel discussion, with Simon Horobin, Jasmine Andersson and Christian Ilbury, chaired by Dan Clayton

'Is the English language getting worse? Why do people complain so much about what's happening to English?'.  (There will be chance for students and teachers to submit questions – attendees will be sent details of how to do this nearer the conference.)

2.50-3.20pm

Christian Ilbury: Rizz, gyatt, bussin’ – language change & social media

Rizz, gyatt, bussin’ – these are just a few words that have been labelled ‘internet’ or ‘Gen Z’ language in recent years. But is it accurate to describe these words as a new variety? And have platforms like TikTok really led to new ways of speaking and interacting? In this talk, I critically evaluate the popular claim that social media causes language change. 

3.20- 3.30pm

Conference ends

Getting to the Conference

Train

  • The closest train stations are Euston, London St Pancras and Kings Cross.

Tube (underground)

  • Tube stations within a 5 to 15-minute walk include: Euston, Euston Square, Kings Cross, Goodge Street, Russell Square, Tottenham Court Road and Warren Street. The closest tubes are Euston and Euston Square.

Bus

  • Numbers 10, 18, 30, 73, 205 and 390 pass the door whilst 59, 68, 91, 168, and 253 stop nearby.

Travelling by Minibus or Car?

  • Friends House is within a meter parking zone. Charges must be paid Monday to Friday 08:30 -18:30. Please note that Friends House is within the congestion charge zone. For details of how to pay here.

Coaches

  • Coaches may stop outside Friends House to drop students off.

Parking

Risk Assessment

We are unable to provide a risk assessment for your students, but are very happy to answer any questions you might have about the venue which would help you in completing your own risk assessment.

Arrangements on the Day

Registration

Registration will open at 9.30am and we ask you to be in your seats for 10am so we can begin promptly at 10.20am.

Entrance is via the Euston Road entrance to Friends House.

Teachers Accompanying Students

We expect all students to be accompanied by a teacher. There should be a minimum of 1 teacher per 20 students.

We request that teachers meet their students in advance, register as a group and sit with their groups of students. Teachers are responsible for ensuring that their own students maintain acceptable standards of behaviour in the auditorium and in the Friends House building.

Lunch and Refreshments

The cafe at Friends House is open from 8am.

You and your students will be responsible for providing your own lunches. There are sandwich shops in the area immediately behind Friends House and plenty of food outlets across the road at Euston Station.

There are spaces outside for students to eat their packed lunch but no indoor spaces.
Photo of Dan Clayton

Dan Clayton

 

Dan Clayton is an education consultant at the EMC and specialises in English Language work at A Level and language education across the secondary curriculum. He has been a teacher of A Level English for over 20 years, senior examiner and moderator for different awarding bodies and is author/editor of many books for A Level English Language, including ones for Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press & Routledge, as well as publications for the EMC and NATE. Dan has worked closely with many universities to help develop links between A level and HE, worked as a research fellow at UCL and runs the EngLangBlog site and @EngLangBlog Bluesky account, as well as being part of the Lexis Podcast team. He has also taught Media and Film Studies and is Associate Editor of emagazine and MediaMagazine.

 

Photo of George Bailey

George Bailey

Dr George Bailey is a Senior Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at the University of York. His research deals with language variation and sound change, with a particular focus on dialects in the North of England and the use of computational or experimental techniques such as ultrasound tongue imaging to study how and why languages and dialects change over time.

Photo of Louise Mullany

Louise Mullany

Louise Mullany is Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Nottingham. Her research primarily focuses on language and gender in business, media and medical settings. She has published in a range of international journals and edited collections on gender and professional discourse. Her most recent book, Polite: The Art of Communication at Home, Work and in Public was published in June 2024. 

Photo of Jasmine Andersson

Jasmine Andersson

Jasmine Andersson is a senior news reporter at Yahoo News UK and an accent specialist. She is writing a book on the history of accent discrimination in the UK. Her work on accent discrimination has been featured on BBC Radio 4, the i newspaper, Refinery29 and others.

Photo of Simon Horobin

Simon Horobin

Simon Horobin is Professor of English Language & Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford. He has written several books about the history of the English language, including The English Language: A Very Short Introduction and How English Became English: A Short History of a Global Language, is a regular contributor to emagazine and makes frequent appearances in the media to talk about language issues. 
Photo of Christian Ilbury

Christian Ilbury

Christian is a Senior Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at the University of Edinburgh. His work primarily focusses on the relationship between people’s digital engagements and their linguistic practices. Most of this work concentrates on the digital and linguistic practices of young people and the LGBTQ+ community.

Prices

  • The fee is £25 per student, with one free teacher place as follows: 1-9 students = 1 free teacher place; 10-19 students = 2 free teacher places and so on.
  • You will be automatically allocated the correct number of teacher places and will need to provide details for each teacher attending. (You can change the teachers attending, if necessary, when you tell us final numbers on Thursday 6th November.)
  • For additional teachers, or teachers attending without students, for their own interest or CPD, the charge is £50 each.

Booking the conference – important information

  • Before booking, please see our updated cancellation policy.
  • We are unable to take provisional bookings or reserve places. Conference places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
  • To book this conference you must be signed into a UK Educator Admin (purchasing) or UK Trust/Academy – Head Office (purchasing). Trust/MAT head offices: please see 'Special information for Trusts' below.
  • Bookings can only be made online. It is no longer possible to pay in full for conference places by debit or credit card via the website at the time of booking.
  • Overseas schools and individuals interested in attending the conference, please email us.

How to book

  • Sign in to a UK Educator Admin (purchasing) or UK Trust/Academy – Head Office (purchasing) account.
  • Add the number of student places you need. Free teacher places will be allocated automatically. There is a limit of 60 places per organisation.
  • Confirm you have read and agree to the updated terms & conditions.
  • Add the names and contact details of the teachers attending – if you don't know these details yet, just copy/paste the details of the lead teacher.
  • Checkout within 24 minutes. Otherwise the booking will expire and you will have to begin the process again.
  • Click submit and then Go to basket.
  • 'Places exceeded' message? Reasons for this message are:
    • You are trying to order more than 60 places (including free teacher places)
    • Due to the number of places in other customers’ baskets, there are currently insufficient places available to fulfil this order. Try again later.
  • Checkout. 
  • Once you have booked your place, you will see a screen indicating your order has been successful. Please make a note of your order number.
  • The person making the booking and all the teachers attending will also receive an automatic acknowledgement of your booking.
  • A non-refundable deposit invoice of 20% of the booking value will be emailed to you within 24 hours of booking. It must be paid by debit or credit card within 7 days of receipt. Failure to pay this invoice will result in the cancellation of the booking.
  • Please do not make final travel arrangements until you have paid your deposit invoice.

Special information For Trusts

  • Are you a Trust finance officer looking to book conference places for more than one of your schools?
  • Please note: the limit of 60 places per organisation applies to the organisation booking the places. 
  • If you require more than 60 places in total, you will need to do one of the following.

Option 1 (recommended)

Finance officers or heads of English register a UK Educator Admin (purchasing) account to the school and place the order. At billing they will have the option to enter the name and email address of the finance officer at the Trust. The address on the invoice will be that of the school. 

Option 2

Finance officers at the Trust head office register separate UK Educator Admin (purchasing) accounts to each school requiring places. They place each order when logged into the individual school account. A different email will be required for each registration.

 

Deposit

  • A 20% non-refundable deposit will be applied to all places booked. If you cancel a place you will lose the 20% deposit paid. You will not be able to use the 20% deposit paid on cancelled places towards the final invoice.
  • You will receive a non-refundable deposit invoice of 20% of the booking value, to be paid by credit card within 7 days of receipt. The payment can ONLY be paid via the Stripe link sent with the deposit invoice, not by making a payment directly via our website. Failure to pay this invoice will result in the cancellation of the booking.
  • The balance invoice will be sent after the deadline for confirming final numbers (approximately 14 days before the conference takes place).

Cancellations and Amendments

  • The 20% deposit on places booked is non-refundable. Please note: you will not be able to use the 20% deposit paid on cancelled places towards the final invoice.
  • You can make amendments to your booking until the final numbers deadline – 5pm on Thursday 6th November. You will lose the 20% deposit paid on places cancelled by this deadline.
  • You will be invoiced for the balance of the total fee (80%) on confirmed places. Please note: you will not be able to use the 20% deposit paid on cancelled places towards this final invoice.
  • After this date you will be charged 100% of the ticket price, regardless of the numbers of students you bring to the conference.
  • We will email on Monday 3rd November to remind you to confirm your final numbers.
  • The invoice for the balance of your conference booking will be sent after the deadline for confirming final numbers (approximately 14 days before the conference takes place). It will come from [email protected] Further correspondence related to payment will come from [email protected]

Please note: We will be unable to make refunds in the case of weather, transport difficulties or circumstances beyond our control. Should EMC need to cancel the conference, a full refund will be on offer. (However, personal arrangements including travel, accommodation or hospitality relating to the conference which have been arranged by you or your institution are at your own risk and not refundable by us.) 

Waiting list

  • We are no longer operating a waiting list for student conferences.
  • If places become available, we will re-open the bookings on the website. We will publicise this via social media and our general mailing list.