Established in France in 1944, we also have a presence in more than 100 countries and territories, working with millions of people each year, connecting them with the UK, sharing our cultures and the UK’s most attractive assets: English, the arts, education and society.
The British Council’s high profile work in English, the arts, education and society helps hundreds of millions of people worldwide to learn about and experience creativity and excellence from the UK. Millions of talented people of all ages – but particularly younger people – engage face-to-face and online with us, learning English, developing new skills, experiencing life and studying in the UK and obtaining UK qualifications.
We teach English in 85 countries and we aim to provide quality learning materials for learners and teachers of English worldwide. We work in collaboration with central and regional government partners to help support the transformation of teaching and learning English by bringing the best of our experience to classrooms, universities and homes. Our language resources are available online, via radio broadcast, mobile, or face-to-face.
We work with the best of British and international artistic and creative talent to develop events and collaborations which link thousands of artists, organisations and audiences worldwide. We partner with others on joint arts projects and help develop creative leadership, professional networks and cultural educational programmes worldwide.
With our education partners in the UK and around the world, we are committed to enhancing the knowledge, skills and intercultural understanding of our young people in schools, colleges and universities. Our focus is to raise standards in an increasingly globalised education context through supporting mobility and exchange for students, teachers and pupils as well as education specialists and policy makers.
By teaching English, changing the way we see each other through the arts, offering international education opportunities and sharing the UK’s ways of living and organising our society we create opportunity, trust, prosperity and security for the people of the UK and the many other countries we work in around the world.
Photo: Christophe Dellière