Unifrog's London Teacher and advisor conference 2025

This year’s annual Teacher and Advisor Conferences kicked off in Birmingham before heading to London – bringing together 360 brilliant educators alongside our university and employer partners from across the UK.

What’s new at Unifrog?

We started our London conference with Unifrog CEO Dan Keller sharing the latest updates and insights from the Unifrog platform, and our 2025 survey of over 40,000 students.

A standout insight this year? More parents and caregivers than ever are getting involved in their children’s next steps searching. With over 100,000 Unifrog parent accounts now active, and 93% of respondents to our recent parent survey saying they feel ‘involved’ or ‘very involved’ in their children’s next-steps research, it’s clear that families are playing a big role in post-school planning.

Students agree too! For the second year running, they named parents and caregivers as their top go-to for advice about their future. That’s why we’re continuing to help schools and colleges empower families with tools like our parent newsletter, Know-how guides tailored for caregivers, and of course, their own Unifrog logins – giving them access to the same unbiased, up-to-date guidance their children use.

Looking ahead: changes to the Gatsby Benchmarks

Next up, we heard from Rob Cremona from the Gatsby Foundation, who walked us through the upcoming refresh of the Gatsby Benchmarks – set to become statutory from September 2025.

While the eight familiar benchmarks and their titles remain, the updated framework places greater emphasis on leadership, inclusion, meaningful engagement with parents and carers, and smarter use of data. Definitions of ‘meaningful’ encounters and experiences have also been clarified – especially in relation to employer and workplace exposure.

Teachers keen to get ahead of the changes can find out more about using Unifrog to address each benchmark in this handy document!

Demystifying the new personal statement format

Our session on personal statements welcomed university reps David (University of Bedfordshire), Rebecca (Norland College), and Keir (University of Edinburgh) to unpack UCAS’s new personal statement format, and what it really means for students.

Their main message was reassuring: although the format has changed, the fundamentals haven’t. Universities are still looking for genuine interest, academic potential, and thoughtful reflection. The new structure simply breaks the statement down into clearer sections, helping students organise their ideas and avoid common writing pitfalls!

The panel also touched on AI tools like ChatGPT, acknowledging they can help students get started or improve structure. But, they stressed that authenticity is non-negotiable. Universities can spot overly generic or AI-generated content, so what matters most is that the final statement feels personal, honest, and true to the student.

Championing apprenticeships 

Our apprenticeships panel, featuring Michelle and Ruby from London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) and Nathan from EY, addressed one of the most persistent misconceptions in careers education: that apprenticeships somehow limit long-term success. As Nathan explained, the reality is very different. In most workplaces, you can’t tell who joined as a graduate or as an apprentice – both routes lead to the same opportunities and progression.

Ruby, a current apprentice at LEYF, shared her inspiring personal journey, explaining how apprenticeships empower young people to put their knowledge into practice from day one. Michelle added that apprenticeships are far from an ‘easy option’ – they demand commitment, time management, and a real readiness to learn on the job.

The panel urged educators to move beyond the ‘university vs apprenticeship’ debate and instead support students to find the path that best helps them achieve their goals. Teachers play a crucial role by asking open questions, challenging outdated views, and presenting all options equally, so students see apprenticeships not as a fallback, but as a first-choice route to success.

We’ll be organising more events in the upcoming academic year, so keep an eye on our Events page and make sure you’re subscribed to our teacher newsletter the Unifrog Gazette to be the first to know!