The Social Policy Association (SPA) is a learned society and charity. Our purpose is to advance the teaching, research, and dissemination of knowledge in the field of social policy, and to represent the interests of our members. Our key activities include:
- An academic conference each summer, regularly attracting up to 250 delegates from the UK and overseas
- Support for the three leading international academic Social Policy journals, Journal of Social Policy, Social Policy and Society, and the Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy
- Produce Social Policy Review, an edited annual collection reviewing developments and debates in social policy in the UK and internationally
- An active network and regular events for Social Policy post-graduate students
- A members’ newsletter published twice a year
- Engagement with UK higher education funding bodies; other learned societies in the humanities and social sciences; policy makers and policy users
- Supporter of Discover Society with the British Sociological Association and the Campaign for Social Science
- Supporting Policy Groups to review and influence key developments in contemporary social policy