Students on a video call

Guided Partnerships

If you’re new to international collaboration, a short-term partnership could open the door to a world of opportunities for your school.

To make getting started even easier, you can apply to join a British Council Guided Partnership, where a dedicated partnership facilitator will guide you through a short-term, collaborative, curriculum-based project with an UK/French partner School.

Guided Partnerships are a great way for you to:

  • Broaden your students’ horizons and provide exciting new learning opportunities.
  • Give your learners the opportunity to share work with students in schools in another country. 
  • Be matched with a suitable partner school who you will work with online for three months. 
  • Focus on a global learning topic, such as climate change, sport, language or culture. 
  • Get targeted support from an expert practitioner with first-hand experience of global learning projects. 
  • Exchange ideas with teachers in the UK and around the world while you gain transferable skills and discover new teaching approaches. 
  • Gain accreditation through the International School Award.

Current Guided Partnerships with France

Lille and Leeds have been twinned together for over 50 years, and within that time they have worked together on various different Arts, Education and Business Projects. 

As part of the Leeds23 Year of Culture celebrations, the British Council, Leeds2023 and the Institut Français linked 23 schools in Lille and Leeds together for a round guided partnership to help them build relationships and work together on various projects from Language to Climate Change.

Discover the many benefits of a partnership with Upper Wharfedale School and collège Albert Camus: 

Leeds – Lille international school partnership: chapter 1: the benefits of an international partnership | British Council 

Leeds – Lille international school partnership: chapter 2: ideas for successful projects | British Council 

Leeds – Lille international school partnership: chapter 3: managing the partnership | British Council 

In 2024, the British Council Guided Partnerships programme linked schools in Wales with schools in the Britanny, Burgundy and Franche-Comté regions in France to help them develop partnerships and work together on projects relating to sport. 

As part of the programme, a dedicated partnership facilitator guided them through a short term, collaborative online project around sport with a partner school in France/UK. They discussed the topics with students in their partner school and worked together to discuss commonalities and differences.

The British Council, in partnership with the French Ministry of Education and the French Development Agency (AFD), is organising an education exchange programme and an international negotiation simulation on the theme of the ocean as part of the Year of the Sea 2025. This programme is aimed at ten Scottish and French secondary schools (in 5 different education areas) with the purpose of raising students' awareness of maritime issues. 

The highlight of the project will take place in Paris on 27 and 28 November 2025 during a meeting where French and British student delegations will join forces to represent various countries and organisations involved in ocean governance. Following this event, participating schools will continue their exchanges around local challenges, which students will be invited to address within their own communities. 

To enable as many students as possible to benefit from this initiative, online partnerships will also be established throughout the school year between Scottish secondary schools and secondary schools in the Aix-Marseille education area, focussed on the same theme. 

The five French education areas where the simulation project will take place are: Britanny, Corsica, PACA, Aquitaine and Occitany.

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