Alumni, academics and leading professionals explored how failure, disaster and near misses can drive innovation, improve safety and shape better decision-making at Reading School’s inaugural Interdisciplinary Academic Conference.
Failure is inevitable. Failing to learn from it is not.
Bringing this principle to life, Reading School welcomed alumni, academics and leading professionals for its inaugural Interdisciplinary Academic Conference on Friday 23 October 2026. Centred on the theme Failure, Disaster and Near Misses, the conference created a unique opportunity to explore how different professions understand, respond to and learn from moments when things go wrong.
Across medicine and public health, law, politics and public policy, engineering and technology, and economics, finance and business, speakers shared insights from their professional experiences, examining how setbacks and near misses can become catalysts for innovation, stronger systems, ethical leadership and meaningful change.
The programme featured keynote talks, panel discussions, and interactive sessions, encouraging delegates to look beyond their own disciplines. By bringing together experienced professionals, academics, parents, and young people at the start of their careers, the conference demonstrated the value of exchanging ideas across sectors and generations.
A central aim was to move beyond simply examining failure to consider what happens next: how organisations can create cultures in which people feel empowered to speak up, acknowledge mistakes, share lessons and take practical action to prevent future problems. Through collaborative discussions, delegates explored the lessons that different professions can learn from one another and how approaches developed in one field might be applied in another.
The conference also highlighted the strength of Reading School’s alumni community, with some travelling from abroad to join us. Old Redingensians returned to share their knowledge, experience and professional journeys, offering pupils and early-career and professional delegates valuable insights into the realities of working life, leadership and decision-making. Informal networking provided further opportunities to build connections, ask questions and explore potential career pathways.
Reflecting on the importance of the event, Rev Dr Chris Evans, Headmaster of Reading School, said:
"Every profession represented at this conference has learned, sometimes painfully, that its most valuable lessons come from the moments when things went wrong.
What is rare is the chance to hear a hospital chief executive, an engineer, a senior civil servant and a test pilot explain how they make sense of failure, and to discover how much they have to teach one another.
I am pleased that so many Old Redingensians are returning to share that experience. Their careers show what a Reading School education can lead to, and their willingness to speak candidly about failure is exactly the kind of honest, curious thinking we hope to nurture in every pupil.”
The conference reflects Reading School’s commitment to providing an education that extends beyond the classroom, connecting academic learning with real-world challenges and bringing pupils into conversation with people who are making a difference in their professions.
By creating space for open discussion, critical thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration, the inaugural conference established a platform for future events and strengthened the relationship between the School, its alumni and the wider professional community.
Its message was clear: failure need not be the end of progress. When examined honestly and shared openly, it can become the starting point for better questions, better decisions and better outcomes.
We would like to thank Sir Philip Lowe, Duncan Cook, Professor Neil Mansfield, Professor Ben Cowling MBE, Philip Davies, Dr Carl Cater, Dominic (DE-E) Eldred-Earl, Raghuv Bhasin, David Pocock, Jonathan Nancekivell-Smith CBE, Neale Jouques OBE, Dr Dev Gakhar, Dr Rupinder Singh, Andrew Allen, Richard Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel Alex Warner and Dr Peter Coggan.
If you're an Old Redingensian with wisdom to share or you would be interested in supporting the next Interdisciplinary Academic Conference, contact the Redingensians Office at alumni@reading-school.co.uk.
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