As ‘Study in China’ moves from a national initiative towards broader educational practice, ISA International Education Group is drawing on its experience in international education at the school level to explore new approaches to international educational exchange. The ISA Global Scholars Programme is a key part of this endeavour.
In today’s world, building a community with a shared future for mankind calls for generations of young people with a global outlook, intercultural understanding and the ability to collaborate across cultures. As the Belt and Road Initiative continues to advance, educational connectivity is playing an increasingly important role in promoting people-to-people exchanges and fostering closer bonds between peoples.
The Outline of the Plan for Building China into a Leading Country in Education (2024–2035) calls for efforts to strengthen the ‘Study in China’ brand and enhance its capacity. Guangdong’s 15th Five-Year Plan identifies greater high-standard opening up in education as a priority, alongside efforts to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into an international education demonstration zone.
Against this backdrop, ISA International Education Group, based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, has drawn on its experience in international education and the region’s unique advantages to establish the ISA Global Scholars Programme. The Programme extends an invitation to outstanding secondary students around the world who have a genuine interest in Chinese culture and a desire to contribute to intercultural exchange and multicultural integration: to come to China to learn, connect and grow.
With education as a medium and culture as a bond, ISA hopes to give more young people from around the world the opportunity to experience life in Chinese schools — to discover and understand China, appreciate both the rich heritage and contemporary vitality of Chinese culture, and promote people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning between cultures.
To bring this vision to life, the ISA Global Scholars Programme has further integrated the AFS Intercultural Programmes into its framework, bringing a distinctive ISA dimension to ‘Study in China’ at the school level.
Drawing on ISA’s extensive international resources and partnership network, the Global Scholars Programme works with leading education partners across Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia to identify and recommend exceptional young people who demonstrate particular strengths in academics, the arts, sport or leadership, as well as a genuine interest in Chinese culture.
Recommended students are also required to undergo a rigorous selection process, including a review of their application materials, an academic assessment and an interview with the ISA Global Scholars Committee. Guided by ISA’s educational philosophy of holistic education and multicultural integration, the Committee assesses each student across a range of criteria, including academic potential, intercultural adaptability, leadership qualities, and their interest in and understanding of Chinese culture, selecting only the strongest candidates.
At ISA, we believe that every child has the curiosity to explore the wonders of the world, the potential to become the best version of themselves, and the courage to make a positive difference. The Global Scholars Programme seeks young people with precisely this inner drive — those who are eager to explore the wisdom of different cultures, ready to challenge themselves in an intercultural environment, and willing to put the ideals of multicultural integration into practice.
The ISA Global Scholars Programme has established close partnerships with the Department of Education of Guangdong Province and the Guangdong Education Association for International Exchange, integrating the AFS Intercultural Exchange Programme into its framework. With the guidance and support of the Guangzhou Education Bureau, the programme is being actively implemented.
Since 1981, AFS has facilitated international cultural exchanges in China, sending and receiving more than 10,000 students and teachers across nearly 40 countries. This collaboration reflects China’s strategic commitment to strengthening the Study in China brand, as well as the guidance and support of provincial and municipal education authorities for innovative international exchange in basic education.
Through ISA’s collaboration with AFS, students coming to China benefit not only from the well-established support framework developed through decades of AFS experience, but also from deep immersion in ISA’s distinctive multicultural school environment. This initiative offers selected students a valuable opportunity for intercultural learning and personal growth, while actively responding to the national ‘Study in China’ initiative at the school level and putting into practice ISA’s core vision of ‘building an international education ecosystem where diverse cultures come together’.
In late summer 2026, the first six students from the UK travelled across continents to arrive at ISA schools in Guangzhou and Wuhan, marking the beginning of their journey of learning and discovery with ISA in China.
It is a journey towards one another. The students have come with curiosity about China and an enthusiasm for Chinese culture, while ISA is ready to welcome them into a rich and immersive learning experience. Alongside international curricula and classmates from more than 40 countries and regions, they will take part in Chinese language learning, explore Chinese history and culture, experience traditional festivals and contribute to community service.
Living on ISA campuses, they will share daily life with peers from around the world in a genuinely multicultural community, encountering different ways of thinking and seeing the world. In the classroom, they will pursue their academic interests, broaden their knowledge and build resilience. Beyond the school gates, they will experience contemporary China first-hand, learning through real encounters what it means to understand, respect and collaborate with people from different backgrounds.
‘Learning has never been confined to the classroom.’ At ISA, education is ultimately about human connection — bringing young people from different cultural backgrounds together to exchange ideas, challenge perspectives, inspire one another and explore the possibilities ahead.
The arrival of the first UK scholars is only the first step for the ISA Global Scholars Programme.
In the years ahead, outstanding secondary students from Kenya, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries and regions will join the programme. As they undertake part of their education across ISA’s diverse campuses, they will deepen their understanding of China and different cultures through genuine intercultural experiences, while developing the capacity for lifelong learning and the global competence to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world.
The ambitions of the ISA Global Scholars Programme extend far beyond bringing students into China. Alongside welcoming international students, ISA is actively creating opportunities for students from its own schools to go out into the world — taking part in exchanges and study programmes at partner schools overseas, enabling students on both sides to learn from one another and grow together. This is a living expression of ISA’s core vision to ‘build an international education ecosystem where diverse cultures come together’ — enabling Chinese students to engage with the wider world, while giving young people from around the globe the opportunity to experience China.
The world is becoming ever more connected, and the horizons of young people should know no bounds.
The first students have arrived, but this journey of educational exchange across borders is only just beginning.
Through the ISA Global Scholars Programme, we will continue to build this bridge — connecting China with the world, and today with tomorrow.