The grants support transnational education (TNE) partnerships between higher education providers in the UK and 15 countries*: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Türkiye.
About the grants
TNE Exploratory Grants support projects that address one or more of the following overarching objectives:
- contribute to long-term and sustainable institutional change that promotes a more inclusive access to high quality education through TNE.
- contribute to a better understanding of the local context and facilitate a regulatory and operational environment to best support TNE partnerships
- support TNE initiatives that promote positive changes in the local education systems, considering their context and needs, and creating a more inclusive and accessible international education environment that contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Types of projects
Projects can be in any discipline or cross-discipline. They should respond to both countries' needs and meet the criteria as specified in the Guidance Notes document.
TNE Exploratory Grants could support partnerships that aim to (not exhaustive):
- develop new TNE joint projects between UK and the partner country, or build on existing partnerships and insights from previous round of TNE grants.
- co-create curricula relevant to the countries’ needs and/or deliver a pilot joint teaching that will contribute to increase both partner institutions’ degrees or professional qualifications quality.
- develop one or more forms of TNE, including dual, double and joint degrees (the models of TNE as well as topic areas may vary according to the partner country involved).
- work together towards the recognition of UK degrees, including online and blended learning programmes. This could include the design and facilitation of policy dialogues to enhance the regulatory framework and quality assurance of TNE and degree recognition.
- encourage the diversification of UK TNE provision by addressing barriers to academic and research qualifications.
- develop courses that can enhance employability skills and prospects.
- widen access to tertiary education for disadvantaged, less privileged and excluded individuals and communities.
- promote TNE through focus themes of shared interest relating to the SDGs.
Eligibility
Lead institutions must be UK higher education providers with degree awarding powers.
Additional eligibility criteria may apply for some participating countries (see the Call Guidance document below).
Participating countries*: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Türkiye.
*A second call for some additional countries will be launched in the coming weeks.
Grant amount: up to £25,000
Project length: 17 months, starting January 2027
**An additional three project grants are also available for Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish institutions to partner with Algeria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Türkiye only.
Clarifications: queries related to the call must be submitted by 8 June 2026 to this email (include ‘TNE Exploratory Grants 2026 – clarification question’ in the subject line)
Submission deadline: 6 July 2026, 11.59 am BST
How to apply
Apply via our online application form
Application documentation (including an offline sample of the application form) is available to download below.
All applications must be submitted via our online grant platform (registration required), using the form 'Going Global Partnerships – multi-country - TNE Exploratory Grants 2026'.
The online application can only be started and submitted by the lead UK institution.
Once started, the form can be shared with partner institutions for their contribution. Any application started by a non-UK institution will be automatically ineligible.
If you have any questions, please contact this email.