A Half-Term in Events: Learning, London Venues and Graduate Success
As we head into our mid-term break, we’re looking back on a busy first half of the autumn term at The Event School London.
Since welcoming our September intake, students have explored the events industry through classroom study, specialist electives, venue visits and professional networking.
Our professional MasterClasses and live online courses have also brought learners together to develop their skills, both in London and from further afield.
Alongside these new beginnings, we have celebrated an important milestone: our first graduates achieving the Ofqual-regulated ATHE Level 5 and Level 6 Diplomas in Events Management.
For anyone considering studying with us, these first weeks offer a glimpse of the learning, experiences and connections available.
Different Courses, Shared Professional Ambitions
The term began with orientation and induction at our principal training venues, Novotel London ExCeL and Good Hotel London. Based in the Royal Docks next to the ExCeL London centre, students are studying within an area where conferences, exhibitions, hospitality and international events are part of everyday life.
Our autumn learners include students on the full-time Higher Diploma Programme (our Degree Alternative) and Advanced Diploma in Event Management, alongside those taking part-time Certificate and Diploma courses in Event Management and the Diploma in Wedding Planning.
These routes bring together people at different stages of their careers. Some are taking their first steps into professional life, others are changing direction, and others are developing skills to support responsibilities they already hold.
What connects them is the opportunity to learn how events work in practice, with guidance from people who understand the industry.
Full-time Students Exploring Specialist Interests with Event School Electives
Specialist study began early in the term, with Luxury Events and Event Styling and Event Entrepreneurship among the electives underway.
These subjects give students space to explore their interests beyond core event management. Luxury events invite close attention to design, detail, service and client expectations, while entrepreneurship encourages students to consider the commercial decisions behind building an event business.
For students considering their future direction, electives offer a valuable opportunity to discover a specialist interest or develop an existing ambition.
Professional Development for Those Already in the Industry
Learning continues throughout an events career, and this half-term we also welcomed industry professionals looking to refresh their knowledge, strengthen their practice and develop new skills.
The MasterClass in Sustainable Events with Natalie Green provided focused professional development in an increasingly important area of event planning and delivery. Meanwhile, the MasterClass in Managing Events as Projects with Rachel Williams focused on applying a structured approach to planning and managing events.
These focused courses create opportunities to step back from day-to-day responsibilities, learn from an expert lecturer and consider approaches that participants can take into their professional work.
Learning from Industry Experience
Our opening teaching team included Nick Oxborrow, Siobhan Craven-Robins, Medina Williamson, Sandra Agyapong, Natalie Green and Rachel Williams, bringing different professional perspectives into students’ classes.
Learning from experienced practitioners gives students opportunities to ask questions about real situations, explore how decisions are made and understand professional expectations.
Medina Williamson brings extensive experience in luxury hospitality, events and brand management, including roles at The Lansdowne Club and The Connaught Hotel. Her teaching helps students understand how attention to detail, client relationships and commercial awareness shape successful events and exceptional guest experiences.
Nick Oxborrow brings more than 25 years of international event experience, including founding and leading Singapore-based events agency Fabulation. As our Lead Event Management Lecturer, he connects classroom learning with practical insights into event production, agency management and working with clients, venues and suppliers.
Sandra Agyapong brings expertise in event styling, creative design and concept development through her professional work with The Signature Eventive. She helps students understand how to translate client ideas into cohesive event experiences while considering budgets, suppliers and the practicalities of delivery.
Siobhan Craven-Robins, our Lead Wedding Planning Lecturer, brings three decades of professional wedding planning experience and serves on the UK Wedding Association’s Advisory Board. Her teaching combines creative and practical planning with client management and business knowledge, helping students understand the realities of working in the wedding industry.
Natalie Green leads our MasterClass in Sustainable Events, helping industry professionals understand how sustainability can inform event planning and delivery. Her teaching encourages participants to consider practical changes they can apply to their own events and professional practice.
Rachel Williams Nick Oxborrow Siobhan Craven-Robins Medina Williamson Sandra Agyapong
London’s Venues Become Part of the Learning
Practical exploration began in the first week, with visits to the QEII Conference and Exhbition Centre in Westminster, Great Scotland Yard Hotel and the Imperial War Museum.
These contrasting venues provided different perspectives on the events business: a major conference and events centre, luxury hotel event spaces and a distinctive cultural venue.
For an aspiring event professional, a site visit encourages questions about access, capacity, layouts, suppliers, guest experience and how a space might meet a client’s brief.
Seeing different venues helps students understand why venue selection is such an important planning decision - and how the setting influences what an event can achieve.
Exploring the Event Industry at The Showman’s Show and The BNC Show
Students attended The Showman’s Show and The BNC Show, gaining insight into different areas of the events industry.
The Showman’s Show brings together organisers, production teams and suppliers working across outdoor events and festivals. For students, it offers the opportunity to see event infrastructure first-hand, speak directly with suppliers and understand the practical decisions behind staging successful outdoor events.
The BNC Show offered our Event Entrepreneurship elective students opportunities to discover venues and suppliers serving the corporate events sector. Alongside meeting exhibitors and exploring how event businesses present their services and build client relationships, students attended workshops on event strategy, connecting their classroom learning with industry perspectives.
Both visits encouraged students to ask questions, make professional connections and link their classroom learning with the practical choices event organisers make.
Joining Professional Conversations at The Biltmore Mayfair
Another highlight was the opportunity for students and graduates to attend the UK Wedding Association’s education and networking event at The Biltmore Mayfair.
The evening explored Cultural Intelligence: Building Confidence and Credibility in a Multicultural Market. Panel discussions and facilitated roundtables considered how cultural and religious understanding informs client conversations, planning, supplier collaboration and event delivery.
Our group represented Wedding Planning, Event Management, Advanced Diploma and Degree Alternative programmes, attending alongside Director Maria O’Dea and Lecturers Siobhan Craven-Robins and Sandra Agyapong.
Experiences like this provide opportunities to hear current industry discussions, meet professionals and practise networking in a business setting.
Celebrating Our Graduates - and a Level 5 and 6 Milestone
The beginning of term brought a celebration of achievement, with our private graduation and diploma presentation at Novotel London ExCeL on 1 October.
While not all graduates could attend, having returned overseas or secured roles outside London - local graduates, lecturers, family and friends gathered to recognise the work behind completing their programmes and to celebrate the next stage of their professional journeys.
This half-term has also seen our first graduates awarded the Ofqual-regulated ATHE Level 5 and Level 6 Diplomas in Events Management - an important milestone for our students and the School.
In early 2026, The Event School London became England’s first approved provider of ATHE’s suite of Ofqual-regulated Events Management Diplomas at Levels 4-7, supporting progression from foundational knowledge to advanced professional study.
Building Professional Profiles and Career Connections
Full-time students also began their professional development activities this half-term, including a photoshoot with photographer Noel Yeo, providing each student with 10 professionally edited photographs for LinkedIn and their professional portfolio.
Career mentoring also got underway with experienced industry practitioners, including:
Georgia Wood, whose background includes luxury events at Harrods and The Savoy
Emma Murray-Jones, bringing events experience from social event planning roles at The Ritz, Le Meridian Piccadilly, Marriott International and the Royal Versailles Ball
Lyndsey Taylor of Park Lane Events, sharing expertise from the luxury events world of Mayfair and Belgravia
Miranda Kidman, bringing her specialist knowledge of sports events from roles with English Universities Sport, Gladiator Events, Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Emma Murray-Jones, Career Mentor, The Event School London Mirinda Kidman, Career Mentor, The Event School London Lyndsey Taylor, Career Mentor, The Event School London Georgia Wood, Career Mentor, The Event School London
Strengthening Our Industry Connections
This half-term, The Event School London joined the Association of Event Venues as an academic associate member.
This creates further opportunities for our educators to exchange knowledge with venue professionals and fellow event educators, bringing fresh industry insights and best practice into our teaching.
We look forward to participating in the AEV’s Academic Focus Group and attending the annual conference in November.
Welcoming a Delegation from Royal Court Affairs, Oman
We were honoured to welcome a delegation from Royal Court Affairs, Sultanate of Oman, to explore opportunities for their staff to study with us in 2027.
Novotel London ExCeL General Manager Jacqui McMillan provided an official welcome, while Meetings and Events Manager Halima Bensedira led a tour of the hotel.
School Director Maria O’Dea and Lead Lecturer Siobhan Craven-Robins presented the School’s programmes and study options, before the delegation met lecturers and students and viewed the training facilities at the Novotel London Excel.
The visit provided a valuable opportunity to discuss the delegation’s training interests and how our programmes could support their staff’s professional development.
Personal Support Alongside Professional Experience
Alongside their classes and industry activities, full-time students have access to one-to-one academic tutoring with Nick Oxborrow, our lead event lecturer and assessor.
These sessions help students understand assessment requirements, plan their work and use feedback to develop their knowledge and confidence.
Hearing from Our Students
This half-term has also been an opportunity to hear students reflect on their experiences.
Ana and Maria shared their perspectives on studying Event Management part-time with Medina Williamson, attending classes in London one day a week and joining the UK Wedding Association industry event.
Their reflections and other student story videos offer prospective students a personal insight into combining structured learning with opportunities to connect with the profession.
Live Online Learning - an Extension of The Event School Community
Not everyone can join us in London. For learners overseas, travelling to the capital may be impractical, while others need to fit their studies around work and personal commitments.
Our virtual courses have therefore been an important part of this half-term’s activity, including:
Diploma in Event Management
Certificate in Venue Management
Certificate in Event Management
MicroCredential in Budgeting Essentials for Events
MicroCredential in Risk Assessment for Events
These courses are taught live online by our expert lecturers, bringing our personal, interactive teaching approach into the virtual classroom.
An International Community, Learning Together
This half-term, we have welcomed students from Poland, Georgia, Italy, Canada, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and India onto our London and live online courses.
Their different backgrounds and perspectives enrich classroom discussions and bring an international dimension to the learning experience.
Whether studying with us in London or joining online from overseas, they share an ambition to develop their knowledge, confidence and opportunities within the events industry.
Behind the Scenes: Preparing for What Comes Next
Behind the scenes, our team has been conducting assessment moderation to support consistent marking and reviewing the curriculum to keep our teaching relevant and current.
We've met with our external quality assurance officer for ATHE as part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining qualification standards for our Ofqual regulated Diplomas. And met with our Online Learning Parter, The Skills Network, to examine expanding the future of The Event School online.
Attending AI for Education workshops has provided opportunities to explore how emerging technology can support teaching and learning. And we've been running inductions for new lecturers to bring them smoothly onto their Autumn programmes.
This work brings together our admissions team, quality assurance advisers, lead lecturers and assessors, each contributing their expertise to the student experience.
We've also been working with our marketing agency to help future students discover our courses and understand the study options available to them.
Looking ahead to 2027, we are planning our Industry Advisory Board meetings and we've been interviewing prospective lecturers and developing new part-time programmes.
Looking Towards the Next Half-Term
From students beginning their careers to professionals developing specialist expertise, this half-term has reflected the different reasons people choose to study events.
Whether joining us in London or learning live online, our students have had opportunities to develop their knowledge, ask questions and connect their learning with professional practice.
We look forward to building on these first weeks when teaching resumes - and to seeing our students develop their ideas, confidence and professional ambitions throughout the rest of the term.
There is plenty to look forward to after the mid-term break, with more opportunities to explore London’s events industry in action.
Students will attend Event Tech Live at ExCeL London, discovering developments in event technology - including the growing role of AI - while observing how a live exhibition operates within a major international venue.
An excursion to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland Festival will offer a different perspective, encouraging students to consider the visitor experience, event production and the practical demands of delivering a large outdoor festival.
Our November short courses will also welcome learners from across the globe into our London classrooms, with courses in Sports Event Management, Event Management, Luxury Event Management and Wedding Planning.
We will attend the Association of Event Venues conference at Olympia’s International Convention Centre, providing an opportunity to exchange industry knowledge and see the transformation of this landmark events destination.
Stadium tours and site visits to luxury event venues across London will round out the term, helping students connect their learning with different settings, audiences and approaches to event delivery.
Students will also attend The Sustainable Events Show, hosted by Prestige Events at the Chicago Booth London Conference Centre, to discover practical approaches that can help organisers make more sustainable event choices.
Lead lecturers will join our Autumn Industry Advisory Board meeting where we'll be reviewing our Event School Electives and gaining insights and input that will shape next years programming and delivery.
Interested in studying with us?
Explore our:
Accreditations, Registrations and Partnerships
