Transnational Education (TNE) Conference 2026
The Transnational Education (TNE) Conference 2026 will help universities decide where overseas provision can make a credible contribution to institutional mission, financial resilience and student opportunity under the UK’s renewed international policy direction.
The day is organised around the institutional choices that determine whether TNE works in practice: where to participate, what evidence is strong enough to proceed, how to finance and assure provision, how to build dependable cross-border operations, and how to evidence value in the places where students learn.
The Conference will explore practical strategies for:
- Translating the International Education Strategy into clear choices for institutional leaders
- Setting evidence thresholds and stop conditions before entering a market or committing to a partner
- Using the UK TNE Quality Scheme to strengthen assurance, learning and action across a live portfolio
- Stress-testing the economics of provision and designing joined-up data and digital services
- Demonstrating graduate, employer and community value in each location
Context
Why Now?
With a £40 billion education-export objective for 2030, the UK International Education Strategy gives overseas provision greater prominence. Each university must now decide what contribution TNE should make to its own mission and portfolio.
QAA’s refreshed UK TNE Quality Scheme places greater weight on understanding national contexts, listening to students and showing how evidence leads to improvement.
Exchange rates, inflation, local price sensitivity, partner economics and the full institutional cost of support can change the viability of provision long after approval.
Separate contracts, systems, data flows and service arrangements can create fragmented oversight. Universities need ways to detect problems early and act across organisational boundaries.
What to Expect
Why attend the conference?
Translate the International Education Strategy into a set of priorities that reflects your institution’s mission, appetite and capabilities
Take away practical questions and measures for testing opportunities, reviewing partnerships and intervening before performance deteriorates
Connect quality, finance, data, digital operations and local outcomes within one more accountable view of TNE performance
Make every TNE decision count
Connect policy ambition to evidence, operating reality and demonstrable local value.
Programme
Agenda
Chair’s Welcome Address
Institutional Choices After the International Education Strategy
- What the government’s 2030 export objective means for universities
- Choosing a clear role for TNE within the wider institutional strategy
- Aligning ambition with mission and financial reality
- Setting a focused 12-month agenda with clear ownership, practical milestones and measures of progress
Putting the UK TNE Quality Scheme to Work: Evidence, Assurance and Improvement
- Applying the Scheme across the full life of a partnership
- Using student voice and local insight to strengthen routine quality review
- Adapting delivery to context without lowering academic expectations
- Turning evaluation findings into specific improvement actions, with clear responsibility for follow-through
Break and Networking
Building a Market Thesis: Evidence, Scenarios and the Case Not to Proceed
- Building a credible evidence base for market decisions
- Distinguishing durable demand from short-term recruitment signals
- Testing how the case performs if recruitment is slower, investment is higher or regulation changes unexpectedly
- Making the case not to proceed when institutional fit is weak
Partnership Health Checks: Finding and Fixing Problems Early
- Spotting early signs of partnership strain
- Keeping expectations, responsibilities and unresolved issues visible to both sides
- Bringing student experience, academic feedback and financial performance into one honest review
- Acting before recovery becomes more difficult, costly or disruptive for students
Lunch Break
University of Bristol Case Study: Meeting the Ambition of the International Education Strategy
- How Bristol is positioning TNE within its wider approach to internationalisation
- Translating the Strategy’s growth ambition into choices about markets, partners and delivery models
- Bringing academic leadership and professional expertise together around a viable proposition
- Building evidence, governance and measures of success that support responsible long-term growth
The TNE Operating Model: Building Capacity and Accountability
- Deciding where responsibility for TNE should sit
- Connecting academic and professional teams so ownership remains clear from approval through to ongoing delivery
- Building sufficient academic and specialist capacity before provision grows
- Creating clear routes for decisions, escalation and timely intervention
Break and Networking
Digital Equity by Design: Removing Barriers Across TNE Delivery
- Identifying where technology creates barriers to access or participation
- Designing learning and support around different levels of connectivity and digital capability
- Building digital confidence among both students and staff
- Using evidence to direct investment towards the locations and learners facing the greatest exclusion
Proving Local Value: Graduate Outcomes, Employer Demand and Community Impact
- Defining local value with partners and communities
- Designing provision around employer demand and credible graduate opportunity
- Tracking how outcomes develop after graduation
- Using evidence to improve provision and demonstrate its contribution to the host region
Developing TNE Opportunities: From Early Interest to a Sustainable Proposition
- Turning early market interest into a clear institutional proposition
- Testing whether demand, delivery capacity and partner expectations genuinely align
- Building an approach that remains accessible to students and workable for both institutions
- Reviewing the proposition as local conditions and institutional priorities change
Conference Close
Build a TNE portfolio that earns confidence
Leave with sharper decisions, stronger evidence and a clearer view of what success should look like.
Who Should Attend?
Audience
This Conference is designed for higher education leaders and professional teams responsible for international strategy, transnational education, global partnerships, quality, academic delivery and institutional assurance. Those in attendance will include:
- Pro Vice-Chancellors, Deputy Vice-Chancellors and Vice-Presidents responsible for international and global engagement
- Directors and Heads of Transnational Education, Global Partnerships and International Development
- Directors and Heads of Academic Partnerships, Collaborative Provision and Programme Development
- Directors and Heads of Quality Assurance, Academic Standards and Enhancement
- Academic Registrars, University Secretaries and Governance Leaders
- Directors and Heads of Risk, Compliance, Legal Services and Institutional Assurance
- Directors and Heads of Planning, Data, Insight and Partnership Performance
- Deans, Associate Deans, Link Tutors and Academic Partnership Leads
- Directors of Student Experience, Student Success, Careers and Employability
- International Operations, Business Development, Commercial and Regional Market Leaders
Registration
Secure Your Ticket
HE and Public Sector
£195 + VAT
- Full-day live conference access
- Latest TNE policy and market insight
- Practical institutional case studies
- Quality and delivery guidance
- Live chat and networking
- Access to event resources
Private Sector
£395 + VAT
- Full-day live conference access
- Latest TNE policy and market insight
- Practical institutional case studies
- Quality and delivery guidance
- Live chat and networking
- Access to event resources
HE Team of 3
£526.50 + VAT
- Full-day live access for three delegates
- Latest TNE policy and market insight
- Practical institutional case studies
- Quality and delivery guidance
- Live chat and networking
- Access to event resources
For group discounts and enquiries about your registration please contact us on enquiries@heprofessional.co.uk