Training and events - Archives sector

We offer training to develop skills, knowledge and understanding within the archives sector. Our training sessions are relevant from both an organisational and individual perspective. Please email us if you would like more information about any of our sessions. At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, our events and training moved online and some of our events remain digital, alongside our e-learning courses.

Most of our training sessions are free, and bookings are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. If you’re unable to cover the cost of travelling to one of our events, please get in touch and we’d be happy to discuss this. We have a limited number of spaces available at each session. Because of this, please only book if you are able to attend, and contact us if you can no longer attend.

Upcoming events

Identifying and understanding pre-modern records (online)

May – October 2026

This series of webinars, led by record specialists at The National Archives, is designed to introduce recordkeepers to some of the most common pre-modern document types found in archives. It will explain how to identify these documents, where to find important information to assist with cataloguing, and what kind of information the documents could contain for users.

Each webinar will include a presentation, Q&A and glossary of relevant Latin terms. You can register for individual webinars, or the entire series.

The series includes four Wednesday lunchtime (13:00 – 14:00) webinars on the following topics:

20 May – Charters and Deeds
10 June – Seals
23 September – Manors and their documents
7 October – Wills

The series will be of interest to recordkeepers working in archives that contain pre-modern records. While examples will be predominantly medieval, the general principles are applicable to early modern records too.

Find out more and register to attend the Identifying and understanding pre-modern record webinars

Manage Your Collections in Discovery webinar

Monday 14 September (10:30 – 12:00)

Join us for a training webinar on Discovery and Manage Your Collections (MYC). The webinar will give an overview of Discovery and what collections information an archive may have on Discovery, before moving on to the MYC tool. We’ll be going through the complete functionality, including an overview of the MYC Excel template, upload using the template and the metadata mapper, as well as the different ways you can edit collections data.

Find out more and register to attend the Manage Your Collections in Discovery webinar

Introduction to how to engage your communities

Wednesday 30 September (10:00 – 12:00)

Want to build stronger connections with the communities around your organisation? Join us for an introductory workshop, led by heritage consultant Claire Adler, to hear about the fundamentals of community engagement and how to develop meaningful relationships with current and potential audiences.

Through a combination of expert-led presentations, interactive discussions and inspiring case studies, participants will explore what community engagement means in practice. They will identify the audiences they currently reach, and consider who may be missing from their engagement activities.

Find out more and register for the introduction to how to engage your communities webinar

Strategic Advocacy for Archive Managers (The Box, Plymouth)

Thursday 3 December 2026 (10:45 – 16:00)

It has never been more crucial to demonstrate the value of your archive to stakeholders and funders. You will leave this free, in-person course with the outline for a Strategic Advocacy Plan, fresh insights from sector experts and an expanded network of industry colleagues.

This one-day course will be delivered by consultant and senior leader, Kate Farmery, and is aimed at Heads of Service or those responsible for managing an archive.

There will also be an opportunity to explore exhibitions at The Box, winner of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026.

Previous attendees for this course have said:

‘It was an excellent day. Facilitators were knowledgeable and excellent communicators.’

‘Excellent speakers. Really informative.’

‘I have improved my understanding of how to go about getting support for a variety of issues and projects.’

Bookings will open here on Tuesday 8 September at 14:00.

Community Hub Training Programme

Part of the Spaces, Places and Belonging Community Hub, this training programme has been developed in conversation with community groups, practitioners and partners across the UK. If offers a mix of online and in‑person sessions, covering topics such as building meaningful community partnerships, working ethically and inclusively, telling community stories creatively, and turning ideas, research and collections into engaging public outputs. All sessions are free to attend and are open to everyone.

Take a look at the training programme

E-learning courses

Data Protection Toolkit for Archives

This toolkit is for archive service staff involved in providing access to personal data found within an archive service’s collections.

The toolkit is hosted on Moodle, an e-learning service that The National Archives uses to host learning and development content for the archive sector. Following the link provided below, please fill out the New Account form with your details. Please enter your email address as your username and use the enrolment key: ‘Data Protection Toolkit’. Once you have registered, you will receive an automatic confirmation email from Moodle.

If you already have an account, log in to the Data Protection Toolkit

Archive Service Accreditation e-learning course

This e-learning course is for anyone working with archive collections who wishes to find out about Archive Service Accreditation. It provides a general introduction to the scheme and will help participants take the first steps towards making an application.

Fundraising for Archives e-learning course

We are in the process of reviewing the content of this course. The course will be closed to new registrants while we do this. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes – if you have any questions, please get in touch at asl@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

This e-learning course covers fundraising strategy, financial planning, cases for support, building networks and supporters, crowdfunding, and measuring outcomes and evaluation.

Video tutorials and step-by-step guidance will introduce you to each topic and guide you through online activities, enabling you to put what you are learning into practice and tailor it to your archive service.

Transfer to Places of Deposit (PoD) e-learning course

This online learning course explains the key points of the Public Records Act for public record bodies. It describes what a place of deposit is and the process public record bodies should follow to select, prepare and transfer records for permanent preservation to a place of deposit.

The learning objectives of this course are to:

understand the content and scope of the Public Records Act and the ’20 Year Rule’ changes
gain knowledge about the process of selecting and transferring records from a public record body to a place of deposit
recognise the roles and responsibilities for managing records under the Act and what the public record body needs to do
find out about the guidance and support available from The National Archives

Recorded events

Take a look at our recorded events on YouTube, which cover a variety of topics, services and networks including:

Training

organisational impact
advanced bid-writing
crowdfunding and digital fundraising
Manage Your Collections in Discovery

Events

Digital Archives Learning Exchange (DALE)
Manorial Documents Register Conference 2022
Archives for Everyone 2023 – 2027
Launching the Level 7 Archivist and Records Manager apprenticeships

Grants programmes

Risk and Resilience grants programme
Cataloguing grants programme
Research and Innovation grants programme
Archives Revealed cataloguing grants