Calibre leadership programme

Here is a list of some of the many outcomes you can expect to achieve by participating in the programme:

• A better understanding of the following:
  • Disability
  • The real problems of disability
  • Leadership and how to be a leader
  • The law
  • How to negotiate change effectively
• Increased confidence
• Increased self-respect
• Empowering insight into the world of work and disability

Aside from attending all the workshops, the Graduation preparation session, the Graduation Ceremony and CPD sessions listed in the schedule above, we also expect delegates to design or draft a project which takes the learning from Calibre and applies it to a project of your choice which demonstrates how you will remove barriers. Projects can be done in any format you choose e.g. written, recorded, done artistically etc.

Some of the delegates will be presenting at the graduation ceremony, if you are one of them, then you will have to prepare a presentation for the Graduation day.

Timeline for the Personal Projects

Following Session 5, delegates will until Friday 13 June to hand in their Personal Projects. Considerable assistance is offered to help participants plan and complete their Personal Projects.

Timeline for the Graduation presentations 

If you are presenting at the graduation ceremony, then you may use the skills attained in the Presentation Skills workshop and have a first draft of your presentation ready by Wednesday 9 July for the rehearsal session. Your final slides, videos, etc for the graduation ceremony must be submitted by Friday 11 July 2025 to the EDI Centre.

The Personal Project is mandatory. It is an important piece of work that must be completed by Friday 13 June 2025.

You can complete your project in anyway you choose. Whatever approach is chosen, your project must:

1. Demonstrate a shift in your understanding of disability.
2. Reflect the learning from the programme and how it will change the way you plan for the future.
3. Show how these changes will benefit you, your colleagues and Imperial/your organisation as a whole.

The Personal Projects can, with permission of the author, be used by Imperial to improve disability access and also policies in relation to disability and beyond.

Considerable assistance is offered to help participants plan and complete personal projects. There will be an explanation of requirements during Session 3 (the away day) and time will be set aside for projects during Session 5.

We assess each application based on the following criteria. The more of these you meet, the more likely you are to be accepted on the programme. The criteria have been listed in order of importance.

What you are looking to get from the programme and what you believe your personal barriers are – we want to ensure that your development needs will be met by the programme and that the programme will align with your goals and help you address your personal barriers.

Whether you have other leadership, management or talent qualifications – priority is given to those who do not have other such qualifications, as we want to give the opportunity to those who have not benefited from similar programmes before.

Whether you can commit to the duration of the programme – we require delegates to attend all the sessions to complete the programme, so unless there are extenuating circumstances we do not normally accept delegates who cannot commit to the whole programme.

How long you have been working at Imperial/ your organisation – priority is given to those who have been working at Imperial for longer, as we would encourage those who have only been at Imperial for a short time to get to know the organisation better and explore other training and development opportunities first. However, if you wish to discuss this criterion further, please contact the EDI Centre.

Your job level/grade – priority is given to staff members across all job levels, including those who are more junior, as this is a development programme intended to boost the confidence of those who may not have had the chance to develop their leadership skills.

How your manager will be supporting you through this programme – we want to see evidence that you have considered the time commitment required for the programme and that you will be supported in managing this alongside your normal workload. If you have any concerns about this, or your manager had not expressed support, please email the EDI Centre to discuss what you would need to help with your participation before you apply.

There is space on the application form for you to tell us about your access requirements. If you are accepted onto the programme, please let us know as soon as possible if there are any additional access requirements not noted on your application form. It is important that you provide us with your full access requirements in good time prior to the beginning of the programme, so that we can ensure your requirements are met.

We are now accepting applications for Calibre 2025.

Please apply using our Calibre 2025 application form. Deadline has been extended to Tuesday 11 March (original deadline was Friday 7 March 2025).

Applicants will be contacted by a member of the EDI Centre with a decision regarding their application between Monday 17 March to Friday 21 March.

Those enrolling on Calibre are expected to attend all the sessions of the programme.

If you cannot attend any session of the programme, you must email the EDI Centre as soon as possible.

Cancellation fees do apply:

• If a cancellation is made less than ten working days before the programme start date, a cancellation fee of £100 will be levied.
• If you miss one session as a delegate, a £50 charge will be levied, but you can stay on the course and complete the other sessions.
• If you miss more than one session, a £150 charge will be levied. You will be taken off the programme, and will have to re-enrol next year unless agreed with the course organiser.

Cancellation fees do not apply in cases of extenuating circumstances.