Presentation submission guidance

You are invited to submit proposals to present at the 2026 TASO annual conference, ‘Collaborate to evaluate’. The conference will provide a platform for those working to increase access and participation in higher education to share their work with peers and experts in the sector. 

The presentation format will be either short talks or a poster.

The deadline for submission is 13:00 on 27 February 2026. You will be asked to indicate your presentation preference (talk or poster) at the point of submission but this cannot be guaranteed. 

Please submit a summary (abstract) of the work  (character count: 2,100 – equivalent to ~350 words) which includes key details such as: 

• the intervention or strategy and its rationale and aims
• research methodology
• sample sizes
• key outcome measures
• key outcomes or impacts (if applicable).

Themes

We encourage submissions of interventions with planned, ongoing or completed evaluations addressing: 

• student mental health and wellbeing 
• student financial support
• regional inequalities in higher education 
• participatory research and student voice. 

Submissions focusing on the following student groups are also encouraged: 

• Students from marginalised groups who are less commonly represented in access and participation work (e.g., student parents, asylum seekers, care-experienced students)
• Young working-class men

Submissions focusing on evaluation methodologies (quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods designs), and submissions reporting ‘null’ or ‘negative’ findings are also welcome. 

We particularly welcome submissions of evaluations covering multiple institutions.

Evaluations committed to being added to the HEEL (when it opens in 2026) are encouraged. Such submissions may be highlighted on the day.

Process

Summaries (abstracts) can be submitted using the submission portal (see below). Deadline for submissions: 13:00 on  27th February 2026. 

All submissions will be reviewed internally at TASO and assessed to make sure they fall within the remit set out above. Authors of successful submissions will be notified in March 2026, including confirmation of the format of their presentation. 

Short talks 

Short talks will last approximately 10-15 minutes with 3-5 minutes for questions. All successful applicants will receive briefing calls and further details regarding the format. 

Posters

Posters are a presentation format that summarise information on your evaluation to support discussion during the conference. If your presentation is selected to be by poster then you will be contacted with an invitation to submit your completed poster for printing by TASO. Presenters must have registered to attend the conference. We anticipate requesting final poster submissions by mid-April 2026. The posters will be set up at the conference by TASO for presentation on the day. All successful applicants will receive further details and guidance to help develop posters. 

Submission form

Deadline for submissions: 13:00 on  27th February 2026. 

Use the submission form (Google form) to submit your evaluation. 

Before submitting, please note the following important points:

• The conference is fully in-person, and we will not be accepting virtual presentations for posters or talks.
• You may submit more than one entry for consideration. Please use separate forms for each submission.
• The submission form cannot be saved; it must be completed in a single session to avoid losing work. We recommend drafting the longer question responses and pasting them into the submission form. Please find a PDF version of the submission form to familiarise yourself with the questions before completing the form via the portal.

If you have any questions, please contact research@taso.org.uk.