The School for Change Agents

The School for Change Agents

Join us now!

The School for Change Agents is back!

Would you like to develop skills to make a difference and create change in health and care?

The School for Change Agents by NHS Horizons is a free, online, self-paced course designed for health and care staff at any level to build the confidence and community to unleash their inner change agent!

This year, we’re excited to be partnering with NHS England’s Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Team to bring you stories of real change agents across the country making a positive impact tackling health inequality.

The next run of School starts on 13 November on Future Learn and lasts five weeks.

Everyone taking part in the School has five weeks from when they start to complete the modules. If you’d like to extend your access, you can upgrade for a small fee. The great news is if you work for the NHS or in social care, you can get an upgrade at no cost to you thanks to a partnership we have with FutureLearn, you can find out more about this here.

The School offers the opportunity to take your desire to see change happen and make it a reality.

The next School Run launches on Monday 13th November 2023.

Scroll down to discover more about School & how you can upgrade!

On this page – please click on any of the links below to go directly to that item

What you will learn

The School for Change Agents takes place on FutureLearn. There are five interactive sessions to complete: 

  1. Change starts with me 
  2. Resourcefulness 
  3. Using power to make a difference 
  4. Using stories to create change
  5. Making sense of complexity

Each session includes a range of articles and videos that feature people like you talking about their own experiences of creating change. 

How to take part

School is free to join, and to take part in. All you need is an internet connection.  The sessions are arranged into ‘bite-sized’ chunks so that you can complete them in your own time, and in your own way.  You can take part on a computer, tablet or mobile device.


How to Upgrade

Everyone taking part in the School has five weeks from when they start to complete the sessions. If you’d like to extend your access, you can upgrade for a small fee. 

Once again, if you work for the NHS or in social care, you can get an upgrade at no cost to you thanks to a partnership we have with FutureLearn.  

To upgrade you need to: 

  • Check you meet the eligibility criteria  
  • Visit: https://verify.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/ to verify your account and receive the upgrade.  
  • If you have already registered on FutureLearn, you will need to register on the verify service with the same email address to enable us to match your account. 

We strongly recommend that you do this before or as you start School on FutureLearn. You must do this before your access to School expires (which is five weeks after you first access the School). 

This offer is available on a select number of courses offered by the NHS on FutureLearn. It does not entitle you to free upgrades on any other course. 

We are no longer able to offer upgrade for people who took part in the previous School runs from 2022. 

Engagement Pack

Spread the word and help promote the School For Change Agents with your networks!

Images, copy and downloads available here: https://horizonsnhs.com/the-school-for-change-agents-engagement-pack/

Live sessions

Alongside the FutureLearn sessions, we held three live webinars. These were optional and were a way to interact with concepts and themes covered in the FutureLearn sessions. They have been recorded and you can watch them via YouTube on the link below.

Listen to our podcast

If you are enjoying School, you may also appreciate our weekly podcast that we recorded in 2021, which goes “behind the scenes” with the team who are responsible for School. You can also access transcripts of the podcast.

Build your network

The lively community of fellow learners on FutureLearn (as well as on Twitter, and in the Facebook group) means that you not only gain a wealth of useful knowledge, you can also build your networks and learn from each other as you reflect on how you can use the skills you’ve gained to take action. 

The School for Change Agents Celebration Report!

We are delighted to share the #S4CA celebration report 2022: Celebrating 9 years of a social movement.

Discover the global impact of the School and hear from the Alumni who were inspired

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