Student Opportunities Festival

A free, online conference for students, sabbatical officers and staff. Designed by student opportunities people, for student opportunities people. 

‘Student opportunities’ is the catch-all term for student media, fundraising, volunteering, societies and sports. The extra- and co-curricular activities that happen in universities and colleges all over the UK. 

Hosted by organisations involved in supporting student leaders - the Student Publication Association (SPA), the National Student Television Association (NaSTA), the Student Volunteering Network (SVN), the National Student Fundraising Association (NaSFA), the Student Radio Association (SRA), and Organised Fun. 

native is a student events discovery platform that aims to deliver the best experiences to students. Our website and app show events in your city and now we power experiences like The Student Opportunities Festival.

This year we are supporting the Student Union community through the Coronavirus Pandemic by providing an out-of-the box virtual events solution, in addition to top quality online and socially-distanced events for freshers programmes. To find out more contact events@native.fm

Covid-19 has caused us to cancel and postpone our in-person events so we've come together to create the festival. To share ideas, provide networking opportunities and support people within student opportunities.

If you want to attend, you just need to register for your free ticket. It is for anyone interested in Student Opportunities and there's no capacity on the festival. Some sessions do have limited capacity and you will need to also register for a free ticket for these.

Each session will be hosted by one of the Student Opportunities Festival team, who will tell you how that session works and what to expect.  

For every session you can just listen and not participate - it's up to you. Obviously, in one-to-one's it would be a bit rubbish if you didn't participate, so for that one you'll need to say something! 

There are different types of sessions: 

Keynotes, Panels, Talks & Q&As are lecture style. You can watch and ask questions in the chat. Questions will be asked at the end by the host.  

Workshops are more participatory and encourage peer to peer interaction. Workshop speakers will encourage you to have a notebook out and do some activities during the session. Participation will be encouraged but isn't forced. 

Discussions aren't led in the same way as the rest. These are hosted in the ‘Coffee Shop’ and are open throughout the festival for you to drop into and have a chat, just like you would at a ‘normal’ festival! 

At certain points during the festival we will have facilitated discussions about particular topics, but most of the time you can chat about whatever you like! 

During each session, we will allocate a ‘table’ in the coffee shop for you to join when the session has finished and carry on the conversation. 

One-to-Ones are self-explanatory! We have arranged free, 30-minute coaching calls with a number of specialist consultants. These are one-to-one and will usually need to be pre-booked. 

There is a schedule above with information about each session, the speaker, and how to join. Just like an in-person festival, you can dip in and out of sessions as you wish. The only ones where this is discouraged is if it has a capacity and is ticketed, as these are more participatory sessions. 

With Speakers' and participants permission - yes. Not every session will be available afterwards butmany will!

To attend the Escape Room you'll need to buy a ticket. This is linked to a specific Escape Room (Group One, Group Two and so on). Buying a ticket will give you access to that particular room only, and you'll be sent your access code along with further instructions two hours before the event takes place. 

There are up to six people per room. If you already have a group of six in mind (not required) you can email deanaltass@native.fm and a specific link for you and your group can be set up. This requires a minimum of four people and a maximum of six.  

Of course! It wouldn’t be a student opportunities event without socials…  

On Tuesday at 18:00 there’s an escape room social where you and your team (of 5 other people) compete against other teams from across the country to solve puzzles. 

On Wednesday at 20:00 we will set the tone for the Wednesday student club night we know you’ve been missing. 

On Friday at 20:00 we’ve put on a classic student club night who promise student anthems and lots of cheesy tunes. 

On Saturday at 12:00 join SweetVibes for a cookalong brunch club and later on in the day at 16:00 we’ve got an actual magician doing virtual mind reading. 

Then, on Sunday at 12:00 you can start the final day of the festival off with a relaxing yoga class.