Overview

Summer School will celebrate its 20th year in 2025, and we are delighted to be bringing you another exciting, engaging, inspirational experience this year. 

Summer School is an immersive, residential experience set out over 4 days in the beautiful location of Lampeter, West Wales. Summer School brings leaders together to network, learn, and address key issues in the public service, third and voluntary sectors in Wales.

What to expect from Summer School

• You’ll discover new perspectives and ideas that will enhance your skills and knowledge 
• You will experience valuable reflection time, facilitated learning and the opportunity to network and build relationships with peer leaders 
• You will widen your networks beyond the service you work in
• You will increase your visibility as a public sector leader

Academi Wales holds a unique position in the Welsh landscape. With access to leaders across public services, an understanding of the leadership and transformation needs of our current and future leaders, and high levels of expertise in delivering meaningful, impactful interventions, we have a key role to play in the future of Wales.

The Academi Wales strategy introduces our ambitious purpose to transform Wales through excellence in leadership.

Several golden threads run through everything we do: Embedding the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, the ethos of One Welsh Public Service, a strong focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, championing the Welsh Language and utilising digital and hybrid approaches to support high quality delivery.

What previous delegates said

To help you get a feel for the Summer School experience, videos from previous years are available on our YouTube channel.

Chairs and speakers

The full and varied 4-day programme will feature speakers who are academics and experts in their chosen field. The Summer School experience will provide you with the opportunity to attend a range of interactive activities delivered by academics and authors who can provide insight and knowledge to support you, your organisations, and the community you serve.

Leadership behaviours

This learning programme will help you to develop your leadership behaviours in the following areas:

Target audience

Summer School is exclusively for senior level managers and leaders working in the public, third or voluntary sector in Wales. 

Summer School is suitable for those leading a team, branch or department in their organisation, with responsibility for creating an effective working environment for their staff, and for identifying and facilitating any changes needed to deliver their organisation’s objectives.

Cost

There is a nominal delegate charge of £600 + VAT for Summer School which covers a contribution to the learning costs for the event.

The closing date for applications is 12 May 2025.

Please note that should you be awarded a place at Summer School and then withdraw from the programme, your organisation may be required to pay an administration charge.

Bursaries

We are offering a limited number of bursaries to cover 100% of the delegate cost of Summer School 2025. We encourage applications from underrepresented, minoritised, and disadvantaged groups.

Find out more about applying for a bursary.

Apply for Summer School!

If you work in the public service or third or voluntary sectors in Wales and would like to be a part of this dynamic learning experience, apply for Summer School 2025 by 12 May 2025.

If your organisation is on the following contact list, you may wish to inform the organisational contact that you intend to apply.

We will let you know whether you have been awarded a place at Summer School by 27 May 2025.

More information

To find out more, including how to submit a strong application, please see our more information page.