We partner UK schools with those in China to facilitate meaningful, student exchange visits, cultural projects and pedagogy exchanges.
Schools and councils use our guidance and expertise to partner with sister schools and sister cities in China. We help them with every step of their journey - from making the initial connections to offering leaderships delegation visits and student hostings, for which we organise all travel, accommodation and logistics.
Our programmes have been found to have incredible benefits for students and teachers alike, allowing students to build confidence, increase their cultural awareness, make new friends and go on to become well-rounded global citizens of society. Teachers, meanwhile are able to gain access to new teaching practices and expertise they may otherwise never experience, which they can later bring back to their curriculum to benefit the whole school community.
Schools can engage with their sister school either through hosting international students at their school for a week, or visiting their sister school on a life-changing school trip. Schools can also engage in joint projects and communications via our online Learning Unleashed platform.
True Education Partnerships has been building strong, lasting partnerships between the UK and China since 2011 (formerly Access China UK). We provide a range of government-backed, immersive, education sister school partnerships between the UK and China to facilitate meaningful, student exchange visits, cultural projects and pedagogy exchanges.
Schools and councils use our guidance and expertise to partner with sister schools and sister cities in China. We help them with every step of their journey - from making the initial connections to offering leaderships delegation visits and student hostings, for which we organise all travel, accommodation and logistics.
Our programmes have been found to have incredible benefits for students and teachers alike, allowing students to build confidence, increase their cultural awareness, make new friends and go on to become well-rounded global citizens of society. Teachers, meanwhile are able to gain access to new teaching practices and expertise they may otherwise never experience, which they can later bring back to their curriculum to benefit the whole school community.
Schools can engage with their sister school either through hosting international students at their school for a week, or visiting their sister school on a life-changing school trip. Schools can also engage in joint projects and communications via our online Learning Unleashed platform.
Cities and councils also benefit from our sister school programmes in terms of increased city awareness overseas, further investment and a boost in tourism, which has been shown to have an impact on the local economy.
True Education was founded by CEO and China Business Expert, Thomas Camilleri. He said:
“I always had a passion and affinity for Asia. But it was a school trip to China in Year 9 that set my life on a new trajectory. Moving to China became a matter of when, not if, and I decided not to go to university in the UK, instead to teach and work with school and community groups nationwide.
“This led to the foundation of Access China UK Education (ACUK), and an increasing demand for delegation, exchange and partnership programmes. In 2019, we rebranded ACUK to True Education Partnerships, as part of the True Partnerships Group.
“It was through the partnerships I developed with local district councils in China that the principles of TRUE were created. They underpin everything we do to this day. True Partnerships is committed to realising the opportunities of globalisation in a way that recognises the importance of cultural understanding and empathy, knowing that lasting connections, and true partnerships, are all about people.”
The TRUE principles are what make our programmes and services different. Our consistent commitment to these principles is the reason why over 96% of the partnerships we started when we first began are still going today.
They are:
Trust
Understanding how to build trust in different cultures, how to see when that trust may become damaged and how to repair it if it is lost.
Respect
Considering cultural insights as the key to bilateral partnerships, ensures that all relationships are built upon mutual respect.
Understanding
Providing the capacity to support in the reciprocal understanding of languages and cultures enables us to remove obstacles and create totally unique experiences.
Equilibrium
Keeping all of these moving parts balanced, constant and working together is what creates strong and lasting partnerships, and unleashes new opportunities.
Our UK Headquarters are based in the famous city of Liverpool, Merseyside. The city has deep-rooted links with China; the Liverpool-Shanghai Sister City partnership is the oldest and most established in the country, which we are proud to be a part of. We have a skilled and helpful team, all of who have been DBS-checked to assure safeguarding with schools.
Our office in China is based in Shanghai, which is based on China’s central coast, it is the country’s biggest city and a global financial hub. We opened this office in 2019 to better serve our Chinese partners.
