sparqs 2026-27 Course Rep Training is open for bookings! 28 Aug 2026
Bookings are now open for our 2026-27 Course Rep Training ....for delivery from week beginning Monday 28th September 2026 onwards. All the information you need is on our main CRT webpage. Please read the booking guidance before arranging your sessions and… Read More
Meet our Associate Trainer team for 2026-27 28 Aug 2026
We are delighted to introduce our excellent team of student Associate Trainers (ATs) for the coming academic year. The team includes 11 newly-recruited trainers and 13 returners from previous years, once again making it our largest ever team! The team will… Read More
NEON dates and meetings for 2026-27 28 Aug 2026
sparqs is pleased to announce that this year’s schedule of events for meetings of the National Education Officers' Network (NEON). Dates for 2026-27 are as follows: Online Tuesday 22nd September 2026 – 1.00pm to 3.00pm. Tuesday 1st December 2026 – 10.00am to 12noon. Thursday 4th… Read More
SESN plans for 2026-27! 28 Aug 2026
The Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) is back for academic year 2026-27. Make sure you save the dates in your diary! The diary requests for the meetings will be sent out shortly for members to accept/decline to confirm attendance. Anyone who… Read More
sparqs staff buddy scheme open for registration! 28 Aug 2026
The Buddy Scheme is back for year 2026-27! By signing up to the scheme, you are paired with another practitioner in student engagement across institutions and students’ associations in Scotland, to give you the opportunity to discuss and have a… Read More
Round-up of our That's Quality! 2026 event 28 Aug 2026
A round-up from our annual That’s Quality! induction event for new college and university student officers and those who support them. The event is designed to introduce participants to the quality enhancement agenda, look at why quality matters to students… Read More
sparqs' support to education officers for 2026-27 28 Aug 2026
As always, during July we sent our annual welcome emails to new and returning student officers with an education remit. The aim was to highlight sparqs' support, relevant resources and forthcoming events that would be useful as part of student… Read More
'Talking Student Partnership' interview with Micole Cochrane 28 Aug 2026
Our 'Talking Student Partnership' interview series continues with another video conversation from Scotland’s tertiary education sector! The next interview in our series features Micole Cochrane, Students' Association Development Officer at West Lothian College. In our interview, Micole reflects on her nearly… Read More
Updated Induction Resource for Academic Representation Co-ordinators 02 Jul 2026
We are pleased to announce an update to our induction resource for new academic representation co-ordinators and similar students’ association staff. The Induction guide for Academic Representation Co-ordinators contains helpful information for any new students’ association or institution staff member… Read More
Have you booked your That's Quality! places? 02 Jul 2026
A reminder that our annual That's Quality! programme for student officers and students’ association staff is still open for summer 2026 bookings! Students' associations - please think about which of your officers and staff need to attend and get them registered… Read More
Welcome to our new Development Consultants 02 Jul 2026
We are delighted to announce that we have appointed two new Development Consultants to the sparqs staff team, Cerys Davies and Sophie Kennedy. Between them they bring a great balance of knowledge and expertise and we look forward to working… Read More
Some prompts for planning for the year ahead! 28 May 2026
A few prompts and reminders which might be helpful to students' associations and institutions around this time of year, some of which we’ve already flagged in recent articles…. Course Rep Training planning Following on from the reminder in our early April news… Read More
Douglas Blackstock appointed as Chair of the sparqs Trustee Board 28 May 2026
We are delighted to announce that Douglas Blackstock has been appointed as the new Chair of the sparqs Trustee Board. Douglas is the successor to Sir Andrew Cubie, who has held the post for the last seven years. We are… Read More
Rob McDermott appointed as STAG College Co-Chair 28 May 2026
We are very pleased to confirm the appointment of Rob McDermott as the College Co-Chair of sparqs’ Tertiary Advisory Group (STAG). Rob, who is Head of Quality, Teaching and Enhancement at Forth Valley College, has been undertaking the role on an… Read More
Update on the design of a PGR Experience model for Scotland 28 May 2026
We are pleased to share an update on our work to create a model of the Postgraduate Research Experience to complement the existing model available for taught students. The PGR model will play a key role in quality enhancement processes… Read More
Have you planned your Course Rep Training for 2026-27? 28 May 2026
As colleges and universities across Scotland look ahead to the next academic year, if you’ve not already made your plans, now is a good time to think about how your institution will deliver Course Rep Training in 2026-27! Further to… Read More
Updated education officer induction and outduction resources 22 Apr 2026
We are delighted to announce our annual update to our induction and outduction resources for education officers, designed to support institutions and students’ associations during their annual officer handover processes. The two updated resources we’ve published include: Education officer induction resource Education officer… Read More
'Talking Student Partnership' interview with Holly McAdams 22 Apr 2026
Our 'Talking Student Partnership' interview series continues with another video conversation from Scotland’s tertiary education sector! The next interview in our series features Holly McAdams, Vice President Academic at Heriot-Watt University Students’ Union. In our interview, Holly reflects on her two… Read More
Our recruitment for ATs is still open... deadline 9am on 11th May! 22 Apr 2026
A reminder that our 2026-27 Associate Trainer recruitment is still open for applications - deadline 9am, Monday 11th May 2026! Calling all student reps! Do you have experience as a course/apprentice or other representative role? Will you be a student or apprentice during… Read More
Planning for the year ahead: a combined meeting of STAG, NEON and SESN in May.... plus an extra SESN in April! 01 Apr 2026
A reminder that sparqs’ three stakeholder forums will gather again in May for our annual, joint, in-person meeting to explore sparqs' future work. If you plan to join us, please register as soon as you can... On Tuesday 12th May 2026… Read More