Candle Conferences

Candle Conferences provide Dr Peter Vardy's events and resources for Religious Studies. Beware of imitations!

Founded in 2010 by Dr. Peter Vardy and his wife Charlotte Vardy, Candle Conferences aims to provide high-quality events for students, CPD opportunities for teachers and resources to enrich and extend learning in areas connected to Religious Studies and Philosophy. We ensure that our events are always pacey, enjoyable, relevant and excellent value for money - but most of all, that they represent c

ontent clearly and accurately. Teachers bring their students back to Peter's events year after year for a reason! Dr. Peter Vardy was the first Anglican Vice Principal of Heythrop College, University of London from 1999-2011. Noted for his skill and energy as a speaker, Peter has inspired up to 12,000 young people per year for the past 25 years and is a leading expert in Religious and Values education who has advised governments, NGOs, charities and schools on policy. The author of some fifteen books, widely used by RS departments across the UK and much of the rest of the world (including in translation), Peter also originated the "five strands approach" to Religious and Values Education (RE/RaVE) which has been widely adopted in Australasia, where he runs series of events twice a year. He is familiar from the Dialogue Educational Videos on the Arguments for the Existence of God and from his many contributions to radio and the newspapers. Charlotte Vardy combines teaching Religious Studies across the age and ability range in a local outstanding Church School with her work in managing Candle. Previously Director of Studies and Head of Religious Studies and Philosophy (twice) in the independent sector, she is a highly experienced and effective teacher and manager who has also been Oxbridge Tutor and Gifted and Talented Coordinator. Charlotte tutored at Heythrop College, University of London between 2004 and 2011 and since then has written four textbooks and innumerable teaching resources. As an educational consultant and teacher-trainer, she has worked for organisations including the Gipsy Hill Federation, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, CTVC (True Tube) and Microbooks, examination boards including CIE and CCEA and The Coexist Foundation (2007-2015). Charlotte led our response to the DfE consultation on changes to the Religious Studies specifications at GCSE and A Level in 2014 and presented a fully developed alternative, developed and endorsed by 100+ teachers, in person at the DfE in December 2014. Candle Conferences’ student events for GCSE and A Level Religious Studies and A Level Philosophy are the most popular in England, with well over 11,000 young people each year taking part. Our bespoke events can be run in a place and at a time to suit you and cover a wide variety of topics at different levels; whether you want a whole staff INSET day on Christian Ethos or a workshop for Gifted and Talented Year 9's, we can arrange it for you. Candle Conferences also works with charities, such as The Coexist Foundation, to improve access to quality learning experiences by running essay-competitions, free INSET and events from time to time.

28/08/2025

Why not sign up to our mailing list and receive details of upcoming events, workshops, online courses and other resources.

With the cost of physical mailings and the fact that they rarely get through to teachers, as well as a decline in the number of teachers using social media professionally, there are fewer ways to advertise than ever before!

If you want to hear about what's on for your students, please sign up! We never share your data with anyone and promise not to send more than 10 e-mails per year (usually 6).

https://mailchi.mp/fc03877c52a2/sign-up

Dates and venues for 2025-26 events announced! - Candle Conferences: for students of Religious Studies

28/05/2025

Dates, venues and details for our 2025-26 live student events are now live on the website and open for bookings online.

Dates and venues for 2025-26 events announced! - Candle Conferences: for students of Religious Studies . The dates, venues and details of our brand new events for students of AS & A Level Religious Studies have just gone live on our website and online box-office, with a mailshot going out later this week. . Our A Level student events will be “Athens or Jerusalem?”, an event focusing on the compul...

15/03/2025

Charlotte Vardy just created a new explainer for AQA GCSE RS Exam Technique, taking into account the recent changes to 1,1,4,6,12...

AQA GCSE Exam Technique 2026 Charlotte Vardy explains exam technique for AQA GCSE Religious Studies. This is relevant for students sitting their exams in May 2026 or later, and accounts for…

16/10/2024

Last call to book places for our November student events!

** Evil and the God of Love (A Level RS) will be in Worcester on 19th November, then in London on 20th November.

** The Word (A Level RS, Christianity) will be in London on 25th November

** Life & Death (GCSE RS) will be in Somerset on 20th November, then in London on 26th November.

Please book your tickets via the website now if you are planning on bringing students, to avoid disappointment.

NB: All these events have more dates and venues in the Spring, if you have left it too late this time.

www.candleconferences.com

25/09/2024

Bookings coming in now for our two LIVE A Level events for students... make sure you let us know if you are planning to bring students to events in November especially.

* "Evil and the God of Love" focuses on the Problem of Evil topic from the Philosophy of Religion paper, which all students must cover

* "The Word" explores a range of core topics from the popular Christianity paper.

You can book a combined ticket for both of these events for just £30, which can be at the same venue or different venues and both in November or both in March or one at each point in the year.

Alternatively, we also offer "Stepping Up" and "A Level Masterclass" online and a range of Bespoke workshops, including ones specifically for A Level RS and events suitable for General Sixth Form RE.

08/09/2024

Just a reminder to get your exam classes out of school for our fantastic and student events this year! They boost recruitment and retention and give the subject a buzz, as well as being fun and challenging learning experiences.

For A Level Students we have two LIVE events; "Evil and the God of Love" focuses on the Problem of Evil topic from the Philosophy of Religion paper, which all students must cover, while "The Word" explores a range of core topics from the popular Christianity paper.

*** You can book a combined ticket for both of these events for just £30, which can be at the same venue or different venues and both in November or both in March or one at each point in the year.

Alternatively, we also offer "Stepping Up" and "A Level Masterclass" online and a range of Bespoke workshops, including ones specifically for A Level RS and events suitable for General Sixth Form RE.

For GCSE Students we have "Life and Death", which comes with free access to our popular online GCSE Masterclass. We also have Bespoke Workshop options for GCSE RS and for general KS4 RE.

Find out more at www.candleconferences.com

02/09/2024

Our new year mailing has just gone out... check your inboxes!

14/08/2024

We are now on bluesky social... find and follow us there!

16/06/2024

Our 2024-25 events are now live on our website and bookings are open!

www.candleconferences.com

13/06/2024

Leaflets for our 2024-25 events are now available!

Full details of the sessions will be posted in our Friends of Candle Conferences group tonight, before going live on our website and here at the weekend.

If you would like to join Friends of Candle Conferences, get advanced details of our events, and exclusive access to friends' offers you can do so here... https://mailchi.mp/fc03877c52a2/sign-up

16/05/2024

Our events for 2024-25 are shaping up nicely. So that you can start penciling things into your diary, these are the dates and venues we have so far...

A Level RS (Philosophy/Ethics)

** Tuesday 19th November (Worcester Cathedral)
** Friday 22nd November (London, Bloomsbury Baptist Church)
** Monday 3rd March (Coventry Cathedral)
** Wednesday 12th March (Manchester, Methodist Central Hall)
** Friday 21st March (London, Bloomsbury Baptist Church)

A Level RS (Christianity)

** Monday 25th November (London, Bloomsbury Baptist Church)
** Thursday 6th March (St Peter's School, York)
** Thursday 20th March (London, Bloomsbury Baptist Church)

GCSE RS (Christianity & Ethics)

** Tuesday 26th November (London, Bloomsbury Baptist Church)
** Thursday 27th February (Manchester, Methodist Central Hall)
** Tuesday 4th March (Coventry Cathedral)
** Tuesday 18th March (London, Bloomsbury Baptist Church)

There are still a couple of other dates and venues tbc.

We will be launching details of the events and sessions during half-term.

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Telephone

+442081332241

Website

http://candleconferences.com/

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