2026 Language, Assessment & Disciplinary Specialism in UK-China Transnational Education

2026 Language, Assessment & Disciplinary Specialism in UK-China Transnational Education

Thursday 24 September 2026, University of Leeds (and hybrid) 

This conference has now taken place. Thank you to all who attended.

Conference Reflections and Outcomes
The 2026 Language, Assessment and Disciplinary Specialism in UK–China TNE conference took place on Thursday 24 September 2026 at the University of Leeds, building on the foundations of the inaugural 2025 event.
 
Once again, colleagues working in transnational education (TNE) across the UK, China and wider international contexts came together for a day of genuinely collaborative and intellectually engaging discussion. 

This year’s follow‑up conference continued to focus on connecting language and disciplinary specialists, while showcasing new strands of practice, pedagogy and research that have emerged since the first event.
 
Participants explored how partnerships developed through the 2025 conference have grown into ongoing initiatives, and how new collaborations might further enhance UK–China TNE provision. 

Inclusive, Flexible, and Accessible
Inclusivity remained central to the conference design, with the hybrid format enabling colleagues to participate and present from across different geographical locations and time zones, whether joining us on campus in Leeds or online.

We welcomed 132 participants from 53 institutions spanning the UK, China, Ireland, Australia, Austria, Greece and Bangladesh. Of these, 60 colleagues joined us in person in Leeds whilst 72 participated online, enabling us to maintain truly transnational engagement across the world.

To further support accessibility, we are pleased to make recordings of conference sessions available. These resources allow colleagues to explore sessions they missed and revisit those they attended, whether you joined us in person, online, or are encountering the conference for the first time. 

A Space for Collaboration
The conference again achieved its central aim of creating a shared space in which content and language specialists can meet, exchange ideas, and co develop approaches to UK–China TNE.

Throughout the day, three parallel themes structured our programme: 
•    Integrative TNE curriculum design
•    Collaborative TNE practices
•    Assessment literacy in TNE contexts

Sessions across these strands prompted thoughtful dialogue around curriculum design, language and assessment in TNE, and highlighted practical examples of collaboration between disciplines, institutions and countries.

The conversations opened fresh pathways for partnership and identified areas where joint work between language and disciplinary specialists can meaningfully enhance student learning experiences.

Looking Forward
One day continues to be insufficient to capture everything our community has to offer, and this second conference underlined the appetite for sustained, long term collaboration. 

We remain committed to extending these conversations beyond the event itself and welcome proposals for future joint activities, research projects and practice sharing initiatives. 

If you would like to discuss partnership opportunities, share outcomes from the conference, or explore ideas for subsequent events in this series, please do get in touch with the organising team.

Acknowledgement
The conference was funded by the Enabling collaborative academic development, research & entrepreneurship (eCADRE) across UK-China TNE project, which was supported by a “Going Global Partnerships - Enabling Grants UK-China 2021” grant from the British Council’s Going Global Partnerships programme.