IATEFL International Conference Preview
Conference information

If you work in the English language teaching profession then the IATEFL Conference is for you! The conference is attended by several thousand teachers, trainers, managers, freelancers, lecturers, materials writers, publishers, edtech companies, examiners, trainees, researchers, ministries of education, universities, teacher training colleges, national teaching associations and many more. The 2025 conference saw people from over 100 countries attend an amazing week in Edinburgh.

During the conference there are over 600 academic sessions covering every aspect of English language teaching and learning, including headline plenaries, workshops, panel discussions, lightning talks, poster presentations and much more.

The conference is an opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge, share your challenges, build your professional network and be part of a global community of professionals. Come and join us!

 > Click here to watch a video introducing the conference.

 > Click here to visit our main IATEFL Conference website.

The Conference venue for 2026 is the Brighton Centre as well as the Grand Hotel next to it. The Brighton Centre is on the seafront in the heart of the city, just a 10 minute walk from the station which has a regular, direct service to London.

Getting to Brighton

Brighton is located on the south-coast of England, and is within easy reach of London and its airports. In particular London Gatwick Airport has regular, direct trains to Brighton with a journey time of approximately 30 minutes.

• Information on travelling to Brighton

About Brighton

Brighton is a vibrant city with a lively and varied programme of events, festivals and activities throughout the year. It has a popular shopping area, and a wide range of restaurants, cafes, pubs and clubs. The city also has a lovely seafront to walk along enjoying the beach and sea air.

• Eating out in Brighton

• Things to do in Brighton

• Find out what's on in Brighton

Duolingo English Test Signature Event   |   Tuesday 21 April
Fair, Fast, and Secure: The Duolingo English Test

Sophie Wodzak

ELTJ Debate  |  Tuesday 21 April
This house believes that the claims of academic research are less useful to teachers than their insights from personal experience
Richard Smith and Lina Mukhopadhyay

Express Publishing Signature Event  |  Wednesday 22 April
The 5 Stages of a Teacher

Jenny Dooley

Pearson Signature Event  |  Thursday 23 April
Learning Integrity in the Age of AI: Can Formative Assessment Keep Up?
An expert panel moderated by Mike Mayor

An IATEFL conference is not just an amazing opportunity for learning, sharing ideas and building  professional networks. Making friends and having a great time has also been at the heart of our conferences. Joining in with our social programme of events is a great way to finish each conference day with laughter and fun .

Monday 20 April - Welcome Reception  kindly sponsored by Pearson  
Tuesday 21 April - Introduction to Brighton
                                            - Music Evening

Wednesday 22 April - Sharing Stories

Thursday 23 April - International Quiz  kindly sponsored by International House World Organisation

You can book to attend the whole four days of the conference, or for individual days.

Helpful tip: IATEFL members benefit from a discounted price, and it is usually cheaper to join the association and then book your place, rather than booking at the normal conference rate.

> click here to visit our main conference website for conference fees and how to book your place.

We are delighted to welcome groups of teachers and/or trainees from the same institution to join us.
If you are planning to attend the conference as a group from your school, college, university then we can assist you with the booking process, and also offer discounted rates. Your institution must be a course provider and your group must include at least 10 delegates to qualify.
Please contact our conference team for further information about your group booking.

With over 500 conference sessions, five world class plenaries, practical 'How To' sessions, a vibrant evening programme, and an Exhibition showcasing the latest resources, courses, materials and goods from the ELT world; we think it seems fairly obvious why you should attend our Annual Conference.

We appreciate though that sometimes it can be difficult to convince your place of work that you should be allowed the time off or even secure some funding from them to be able to attend. We have therefore translated our document about the professional development benefits our conference offers into a number of different languages.

> click here to download a justification to support your request to your employer to attend the conference

In order to enter the United Kingdom to attend the conference you may need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), or for a visa. ETAs are cheaper and easier to apply for, but you should check if you can apply for that, or need to apply for a visa by visiting www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

If you do require a visa, and need to have an invitation letter in order to support their application, should first make a conference booking online. Under the Personal Information section, tick the ‘invitation letter required’ box and fill in your passport number where indicated. Your invitation letter will be emailed to you within two weeks of us receiving your booking.

Find out more about our booking agency, Visit Brighton,  and details on how to reserve your accommodation whilst you're at the IATEFL Conference.