The inaugural CONNECT UK–China Transnational Education (TNE) Symposium, day 2, on 4 December 2025, brought together colleagues across the UK and China for an afternoon of deep professional exchange. With a programme spanning governance, AI, curriculum innovation, student belonging, and industry collaboration, the event showcased a sector moving decisively from exported programmes toward shared, co-created educational ecosystems. Opening remarks from Dr Wasim Ahmad (Glasgow) set the tone: TNE growth, whether in China or globally, requires true partnership.
In the keynote, Prof. Muhammad Ali Imran (University of Glasgow) focused on the Win-Win, good partnership, which requires clear governance, mutual reputational risk and rewards, equitable sharing of resources, visibility and credit, long-term horizon. He also spoke about the importance of training staff as reflective practitioners through ongoing CPD, action research, and offering progression and teaching fellowships for staff based in China.
AI, Digital Transformation, and FutureSkills
Speakers from QMUL and XJTLU explored how shifts in AI and technology are reshaping TNE environments.
Dr Ling Ma (Queen Mary University of London) outlined global and national AI policy developments since 2023, including UNESCO, the UK Department for Education, AI Education, China’s MOE, TNE, and the Russell Group. She introduced QMUL’s dedicated AI Centre for Education, including the AICoDE framework, designed to develop AI competence for educators and embed AI into engineering TNE teaching. She also represented the Gen AI competence model in relation to Bloom's Taxonomy to divide it into 3 levels: foundational AI literacy, Specialised Technical Proficiency, and Domain-Specific Problem Solving.
Dr Olivia Sun (XJTLU) further shared XJTLU's practice in adopting AI and Innovation in digital education, highlighting a surge in generative AI use, simulation tools, and gamified learning. Her session looked at the staff upskills, student collaboration and instructional design in digital transformation in TNE: tools, platforms and pedagogical Innovation. She demonstrated innovations such as digital escape rooms built through H5P and Genially—showing how digital transformation can support more student-centred learning across borders.
Panel Discussion: Research, Industry& Employability
The panel—featuring colleagues from Coventry (Dr Sumara Khan), Heriot-Watt (Dr Adnan Zahid), Oxford Brookes Chengdu (Dr Joojo Walker) , and Glasgow Singapore (Dr Peter CY Yau)—explored the vital role of research engagement and industry partnerships.
Some takeaways:
Localisation matters: local industry advisory boards strengthen relevance and employability.
Staff and students must learn together; reflective practitioners and action research are essential for staff capability-building.
Employability is shifting: LinkedIn presence, professional identity, and understanding what recruiters look for are now core components of student development, including emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence and future skills raised by some of the panel members.
Practice Sharing: Student Support,Belonging, and Classroom Cultures
Practice-sharing sessions highlighted the lived experience of staff working on the ground in China.
Student Support & Anxiety in a Changing Landscape
Speakers, Mr Mingda Ma and Lang Hu from Glasgow Chengdu noted that students today face:
A challenging job market
- Concerns about the value of degrees and overseas qualifications
Increased interest in HK/Singapore pathways due to lower cost and fewer cultural barriers
- TNE providers must demonstrate clear value, strong support, and high-impact career pathways.
Enhancing Belonging, Identity, and Navigation of two systems.
Dr Colette Mair and colleagues addressed the cultural norms affecting classroom interaction. Initiatives included:
Pre-arrival belonging activities
- Student-led communities (e.g., maths societies)
- Simple but powerful practices like movement activities, classroom facilitation tools, and culturally sensitive communication
Encouraging staff to avoid judgment and stay attentive to students’ sense of face (面子) and identity
In mega-campuses of 30,000–40,000 students, these interventions help prevent students from feeling “invisible.”
Colleague Dr Sannia Mareta from Nottingham Ningbo shared practical strategies for mediating between UK and Chinese academic cultures—placing staff in a facilitator role that centres the student while bridging expectations.
Understanding TNE Development in China
Larry Li, from the British Council, further updated the current UK-China TNE landscape. From the policy side, participants were reminded that there are now 239 UK–China TNE partnerships, with more than 88,000 students studying UK qualifications in China in 2023/24. The refreshed TNE policy (2025) signals China’s direction: open, predictable approval processes and encouragement of higher-quality, co-developed provision.
Building Bridges for UK–China Partnerships
Finally, together with participants, Larry further discussed models for initiating and sustaining TNE partnerships, emphasising communication, trust, open-minded, equitable partnership, good governance structure, capacity building, shared credit, and long-term collaboration.
Conclusion
Across sessions, a consistent message emerged: TNE is no longer an export model. It is a collaborative space of shared curriculum design, shared governance, shared risks, and shared growth.
The CONNECT TNE Symposium made one thing clear: the real momentum in TNE comes from the practitioners—those who teach, support, design, mediate, and co-create across borders every day. Their insights show a sector not only growing, but transforming with purpose.
