Here at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, we are delighted to share details about this year’s Language Teachers’ Conference which will take place on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 September 2025 at Somerville College, Oxford.

Our annual conference has developed out of the Sir Robert Taylor Society (named after the founder of the Faculty’s Languages Library), a network of teachers of Modern Foreign Languages in secondary schools, academics from the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford, and others interested in MFL.

This conference is now a core aspect of the Faculty’s Schools Liaison work, and provides a unique forum for interaction and exchange between the University and teachers. It offers teachers the chance to spend a night in an Oxford college, to attend various taster lectures and discussions, and to ask our academics and admissions tutors questions about our courses, research, and supporting students’ applications to Oxford.

Conference Programme

2025 sees us re-invigorating our standard conference programme to make it more interactive and collaborative. For the first time, the Conference will have a theme – ‘Collaboration and Connections’ – which will underpin all of the sessions and talks that are taking place across the two days. We hope that, by creating more space for meaningful discussions, teacher-led content, and undergraduate student perspectives, the event will provide more useful opportunities for delegates and Faculty members to share best practice, network, and learn from one another.

We are pleased to be holding the conference at Somerville College once again after a successful event last year. Somerville was established in 1879 as a hall for women, who were barred from the university at the time, and throughout its history it has remained committed to equality. Today, Somerville marries beautiful architecture with a proud emphasis on inclusivity and diversity.

The full provisional event programme can be found here and more information about the conference is available here.

A particular highlight of this year’s programme is scheduled for Saturday morning – our ‘Collaboration carousel’ session will involve invited MFL teachers speaking about the exciting and innovative projects they have been working on within their school or local area to promote language learning.  

Delegate rates and booking

Below are the various rates and ticket options available for both state and independent school teachers.

	State school rate	Independent school rate
Full conference, including accommodation and breakfast	£150	£300
Full conference, excluding accommodation	£100	£220
Friday only	£50	£110
Saturday only	£50	£110

Please visit our online bookings webpage to secure your place. You will need to create an account (or log in if you’ve used our website before) and select the right rate for your school type and length of attendance. Bookings will close on Monday 8th September.

We have a select number of fully subsidised places available for non-selective state schools. The Faculty has some funding set aside to cover the cost of the conference ticket and to reimburse reasonable travel expenses for teachers from these schools travelling to and from Oxford. Preference will be given to schools that either:

• have never attended the conference before (or that have not attended in the last few years);
• are located in areas of the country from which fewer students attend University;
• have high proportions of students on Free School Meals.

If you wish to apply for one of these places, please fill in this very short form by Tuesday 1^st July at midday.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.

We look forward to seeing you in September!