Cymraeg

Academi Wales

Summer School 2026

  • Audience
    Senior managers and leaders from across the public service and voluntary sector in Wales

  • Location
    Residential
    Lampeter Campus, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

  • Dates
    23 to 26 June 2026

  • Cost
    Delegate charge £600 + VAT

‘Spirit of Leadership: Reflect, Reconnect, Reimagine’

Information

The closing date for applications is 20 April 2026.

Overview

Summer School will celebrate its 21st year in 2026, and we are delighted to be bringing you another exciting, engaging, inspirational experience this year. 

This year’s flagship programme Spirit of Leadership is an immersive, residential experience set out over 4 days in the beautiful location of Lampeter, West Wales. Summer School brings leaders together to learn, network, and address key challenges in the public, third and voluntary sectors in Wales.

The Spirit of Leadership programme is a transformative Summer School journey for leadership changemakers. 

Benefits to you

Spirit of Leadership offers a unique opportunity to step back from the day-to-day, to reflect on your leadership contribution, reconnect with spirit and reimagine the future of public service in Wales.

  • Reflect: Create space for personal insight and collective reflection on your leadership contribution, impact, and legacy in the context of Welsh public service.

  • Reconnect: Strengthen relationships, build trust across sectors, and commit to the shared purpose and collective ambition of Leading for Wales.

  • Reimagine: Challenge established thinking, creating new possibilities within systems, services, and leadership approaches that meet the needs of future generations.

As One Welsh Public Service, we have a shared purpose and shared drivers to achieve a better and lasting quality of life for us all.

Academi Wales (AW) holds a unique position in the Welsh landscape. With access to leaders across public services, understanding of the leadership and transformation needs of our current and future leaders, and having high levels of expertise in delivering meaningful, impactful interventions, AW has 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

“Another great day. The energy being generated around the school is something I have never felt before. The networks I am creating have truly shown the endless possibilities we have in public service, if we put building relationships up there as important as anything else” 

“The Summer School has been an absolute joy for me. My gratitude is huge and I am going to share my experiences with everyone in my network. Thank you so much for this opportunity”

“Thank you for an amazing 4 days, it’s been intense, fun, insightful, deep, tiring, exciting and so beneficial all round”

“A brilliant combination of speakers to bring such an amazing week to an end. I was sad to leave, as I have thoroughly enjoyed my time being able to gain knowledge and insights from like minded individuals. I have a new found confidence and enhanced motivation ready to return to work” 

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.

Find out more about the chairs and speakers.

Further details of speakers will be announced soon. Subscribe to our Bulletin, follow our social media channels and visit our webpages for the latest news and updates about Summer School 2026.

Leadership behaviours

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

Learning and self-awareness

Drive and resilience

Focusing on citizens and quality

Championing innovation and change

Building collaboration and partnership

Political awareness and skill

Sharing leadership

Strategic orientation

Target audience

Summer School is exclusively for experienced leaders; people with more leadership experience - leading functions or services by setting strategic direction and ensuring alignment between multiple teams.

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 20 April 2026.

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 up to 100% of the delegate cost of Summer School 2026. 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 2026 by 20 April 2026.

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 22 May 2026.

Apply for Summer School

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

Summer School Organisational Contacts (PDF)

More information

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