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#SPANC26 location and dates revealed
The Student Publication Association’s 2026 National Conference will be held in Norwich!
Our annual conference is a weekend packed full of journalism talks, workshops, networking and awards, and we can’t wait to bring it to the East of England for the first time.
#SPANC26 will be hosted from 27th - 29th March by Concrete, the University of East Anglia’s student newspaper. More details on tickets will follow in the new year, but for now you can register to be notified when tickets go on sale.
Emily Pitt-Shaw and Hannah Foley from Concrete are joining the SPA team as Co-Host Officers.
Each year, SPANC features a weekend of talks and workshops aimed at students attempting to begin their career in journalism, with last year’s speakers including Sophia Smith Galer, the BBC’s Nuala McGovern, Megha Rajagopalan and former MP Ben Bradshaw.
The conference also includes the SPA’s annual national awards ceremony, and details on how to enter will be announced in January - keep an eye on our socials!
Save the date!
Emily Pitt-Shaw
Concrete Editor-in-Chief and Co-Host Officer
“We are beyond excited to host #SPANC26 and bring the conference to Norwich. I’m incredibly proud of all those that continue to be involved in student journalism, and Concrete looks forward to welcoming everyone to the University of East Anglia. I know that the trustees, officers, Hannah and I will do everything we can to make this another incredible year of workshops and awards. We look forward to seeing you all soon!”
Joe McFadden
SPA Conference and Events Officer
“I’m extremely excited to bring SPANC to the East of England for the first time ever. Concrete submitted an excellent bid which I’m hopeful will give as many students as possible the opportunity to attend. Having attended SPANC since 2021, I’m looking forward to continuing to grow the conference and bringing members together with professional journalists from across East Anglia and beyond. If there’s anything specific you’d like to see at #SPANC26 then please do get in touch. We can’t wait to see you there.”
How do we decide where SPANC is held?
Where SPANC is held is dependent on who applies to host it. This year we overhauled our bidding process, significantly enhancing the support offered to prospective host publications by introducing a new expression of interest form, talking through draft bids with the bid teams and flagging any potential issues ahead of their final bid being submitted. Each bid was then independently assessed by more than 20 members of the SPA team, who scored them across nine key areas including affordability, location and facilities.
Our decision was driven by choosing the venue that could deliver the best conference, at the best value for money for students. We had several other brilliant bids this year - and hope that in future years, we can work with the publications to encourage them to re-apply with the view to hosting SPANC at a later date.
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