Policy Festival is back for another year, with enriching stories and insights delivered by experts in government, academia and beyond. From 29 September to 3 October 2025, civil servants from across both the UK and devolved governments are invited to join a range of virtual and in-person sessions covering high-profile policy topics and themes.
Planning your learning can sometimes be challenging, with busy schedules and competing priorities all vying for our attention. Here are five reasons why Policy Festival 2025 is a worthy entry in your development plan:
Unparalleled access to leading figures
When else can you join conversations with the cabinet secretary, professor Sir Chris Whitty, Ed Balls, political historian Sir Anthony Seldon and bestselling author Sam Freedman in the space of a few days?
Learn from a host of leading figures and hear first-hand about their own lessons learned in policy and politics. Topics range from the importance of connected policy making, the use of history as a tool in decision-making, evidence-based policy making and navigating major crises.
Mission-driven deep dive
The government has committed to being mission-driven, focusing its efforts on five key areas: growth, the NHS, clean energy, safer streets and opportunity. But what does this mean and how will policy makers help deliver it?
These missions are intended to promote innovation and collaboration, ensuring policies are aligned with national objectives. Jerome Glass, chief operating officer at the Home Office is joined by a senior government panel to lift the lid on how a missions approach differs in ways of working compared to traditional policy thinking.
Harness artificial intelligence for real policy tasks
The Incubator for Artificial Intelligence returns to Policy Festival with the latest insights and updates on tools to assist you with a range of policy tasks, from consultation analysis to parliamentary handling.
See practical demonstrations of the latest AI tools developed by government, for government and discover how AI is being used across the civil service.
Unlock one-to-one mentoring
Secure spot mentoring sessions with experienced civil servants from a wide variety of policy areas.
Following its success in previous years, spot mentoring returns to offer further opportunities to connect with colleagues across the civil service who have a wealth of experience and can accelerate your career progression.
Mentoring takes place in 45-minute slots during the week of the festival with a mentor of your choice, on a first come first serve basis.
Masterclasses with an inclusive policy focus
How do you make sure that you’ve really taken account of the way policies will be experienced by people in their daily lives?
Sessions led by trailblazers in inclusive policy making share lessons in how to ensure policies work for everyone. Understand how human-centred design, evidence-based approaches and collaboration across sectors are effective in delivering real change.
A full programme of events and details on how to sign up can be found on the Policy Festival website