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 partnership project 2025-26
International negotiation simulation on the theme of the ocean
The British Council, in partnership with the French Ministry of Education and the French Development Agency (AFD), organised an education exchange programme and an international negotiation simulation on the theme of the ocean as part of the Year of the Sea in France in 2025. This programme was aimed at ten Scottish and French secondary schools (in 5 different education areas) with the purpose of raising students' awareness of maritime and climate change issues.
The highlight of the project took place in Paris on 27 and 28 November 2025 during a meeting where French and British student delegations joined forces to represent various countries and organisations involved in ocean governance. Following this event, participating schools continued their exchanges around local challenges, which students have been invited to address within their own schools or communities.
To enable as many students as possible to benefit from this initiative, online partnerships were 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 has taken place are: Britanny, Corsica, PACA, Aquitaine and Occitany.