SSAT are the UK’s biggest and most experienced provider of student leadership training and support for education providers, with over 30 years of experience helping settings build the capacity and capabilities of their student leaders.
But, as school leaders know and understand, to stay on top of your game it is important to use good evidence to reflect, review and revise what you are doing so that it can be even better. SSAT has been doing just that, and this month sees the relaunch of our student leadership offer.
Drawing from a rich seam of research into student leadership we have developed a model of Student Leadership for IMPACT that underpins our entire offer to schools. You can read more about the lessons we have learned from the evidence base in this blogpost.
As a result of these changes to our model for understanding impactful student leadership, schools and other organisations working with young people to enhance their leadership knowledge, skills and capacities can receive support from SSAT in the following ways.
- Training for student leaders: We have revised our offer for in-person training so that it fully aligns with the IMPACT model, giving students a wider choice of modules focused on student leadership impact. This allows us to better meet the needs of your context, and we can even design bespoke modules for training your student leaders.
- Student Recognition Scheme: We have completely renewed our support for schools seeking to recognise the impact of student leaders. Our new evidence-informed rubrics are linked to the IMPACT model and better recognition of students at the earliest and most advanced stages of their student leadership journey.
- School Recognition Scheme: We have created a brand-new process for schools to effectively audit their student leadership provision, enabling them to identify strengths in provision and next steps. The rubrics align with those in the Student Recognition Scheme and with what evidence tells us about good school support for student leaders.
- Professional Learning for Staff: We have significantly revised our CPDL offer for adults leading the work of student leaders, a role that research says is crucial for impact, and therefore success. Aligned with the IMPACT model, the webinar and video seminar will support facilitators of student leadership in thinking strategically about their work.
- Student Leadership Franchise: We are developing an offer for schools and trusts with a track record of student leadership with impact. In 2025/26, we are seeking partners who would like to the training, support and resources to become system leaders in this field, supporting other schools to develop and enhance their student leadership work.
Free student leadership webinar
With so many changes to what SSAT has been doing to enhance our Student Leadership for IMPACT provision, we are offering a free webinar briefing for school leaders and others with an interest in enhancing the leadership of young people. Join us on Wednesday 1 October 2025 at 4pm if you would like to hear more.
