The RSS Manchester local group will host an online seminar with Dr Laura Bonnett (Medical Statistician based in the Department of Health Data Science at the University of Liverpool) who will discuss her experiences around teaching statistics.

Teaching statistics is never just about statistics. Alongside confidence intervals and regression models come recruitment targets, timetabling puzzles, AI anxieties, student support, marketing copy, module evaluations, and the occasional existential crisis over whether anyone has actually read the handbook.

In this talk, Laura Bonnett reflects on her experiences as Chair of the Teaching Statistics Trust and as Programme Director for two MSc programmes at the University of Liverpool. She will discuss the Trust’s work to support and promote statistics education, including the launch of new grant schemes designed to encourage innovative teaching activities and widen access to statistical learning opportunities.

The talk will also explore the realities of leading two very different MSc pathways which ultimately award the same MSc in Data Science & AI for Health Innovation: one designed for students arriving with strong quantitative and statistical backgrounds, and another created for students with little or no prior experience in statistics or programming. How do you design teaching that supports complete beginners while still challenging experienced statisticians? How do you build confidence without lowering standards? And how do you persuade students that statistics is not, in fact, something to fear?

Alongside the challenges, the talk will reflect on the genuinely rewarding side of statistics education: helping students who never thought of themselves as “data people” develop confidence, curiosity, and skills that can make a real difference in healthcare and research. Expect honest reflections on modern statistics education, a few cautionary tales from university life, and reassurance that even statistics lecturers occasionally need to Google their own timetable!