The UK Concussion Conference 2025, organised by the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Injury, took place on Friday 5 December 2025 in London. The event brought together clinicians, researchers, policymakers, innovators, and sports professionals to explore current challenges in concussion care and opportunities to improve awareness, education, and recovery pathways across health and sport.

Conference Themes & Key Takeaways

The conference reinforced that concussion is a cross-sector issue, requiring coordinated action across healthcare, sport, education, and policy. Key themes included:

  • Persistent challenges in concussion recognition, diagnosis, and management across diverse settings
  • The need for clearer, more connected pathways between community sport and healthcare services
  • Emerging research and innovation in concussion assessment, recovery, and long-term outcomes
  • The importance of collaboration between clinicians, researchers, governing bodies, and grassroots organisations

While concussion research continues to evolve, discussions highlighted the ongoing challenge of translating evidence into consistent, real-world practice.

Education Breakout Session

The Love of the Game (LOTG) team, led by Chair Stuart Bagshaw and supported by Medical Advisor Professor Mike Parker, facilitated a dedicated breakout session focused on concussion education and awareness.

During the session, LOTG shared a draft Concussion Awareness poster built around the core message Recognise. Rest. Recover. Attendees provided live feedback on its clarity, tone, and suitability for non-medical audiences. The discussion focused on how the poster would be received by athletes, coaches, parents, and volunteers, and how it could be strengthened to maximise impact at grassroots level.

LOTG also shared their ambition to circulate the final poster to grassroots sports clubs across the UK, using it as a simple, evidence-informed tool to support early recognition and safer concussion management beyond clinical settings.

The session also featured examples of education initiatives that are already working in practice, shared by Donna Sanderson-Hull (BlueSky Physio) and Millie Puddephatt (Concussion Toolkit).

Overall, the day was highly productive, and LOTG is grateful to the organisers for creating space for meaningful cross-sector discussion, and to breakout session participants for their thoughtful feedback and expertise.

And, to round off a highly successful day, the team came together at a local pub continue conversations sparked during the conference.