Background information

In Vietnam, English language teaching (ELT) development in support of the National Foreign Languages Project’s (NFLP) 2025 Strategy has always been a priority area for the British Council. NFLP and the British Council in Vietnam continually seek ways to develop cooperation in the areas of English language teaching, learning and assessment and this is evident in the activities proposed in the Collaboration Plan 2021-2022 with a vision for cooperation until 2024-2025, including (i) research and insight, (ii) engaging with stakeholders in both Vietnam and the UK, (iii) capacity building and continuing professional development, and (iv) curriculum, resources and assessment.

Building the capacity of practitioners is a core part of our work and through this ‘Online MA Scholarships for English language teachers’ programme, we aim to identify and support a selected group of high-performing English language  teachers and/or teacher educators to further their skills and knowledge. In 2023 we also mark the occasion of 50 years of UK-Vietnam diplomatic relations, and 30 years of the British Council’s presence in Vietnam, with a programme of activities under our Arts, Education and English portfolios: UK/Vietnam Season 2023. (More information about UK/Vietnam Season 2023 can be found at: https://www.britishcouncil.vn/en/programmes/uk-vietnam-season-2023). The proposed scholarships programme will be a flagship element of the English Programmes component in the UK/Vietnam Season 2023.

Objectives

The intention of this scholarships programme is to offer fully funded placements for applicants from Vietnam to study online MA courses in English language teaching offered by UK universities. The main study activity will be coupled with a programme of wrap around activities provided by the hosting UK university as well as post-study alumni activities (facilitated by the British Council) to increase the chances of longer-term engagement and wider impact.

Budget and opportunities for UK universities

This programme consists of up to eight (8) fully funded places on online Masters’ programmes in English language teaching offered by UK universities, preferably with a short face-to-face component in the UK (e.g. 1-2 weeks), with all expenses paid for by a bursary, beginning in Sept/Oct 2023. We will require that all selected scholars to complete the online Master’s programs in a maximum of two years.

The total grant for this programme is £120,000, with an average scholarship value of £15,000 per scholar. UK universities will have two following options to bid for:

• Hosting a group of all 8 scholars. For this case, there will be just one UK university to be granted with the total amount of £120,000.
• Hosting a group of 4 scholars. For this case, there will be two UK universities to be granted, each with £60,000.

UK universities are required to indicate clearly in your application form which option, or the preference order of options, that you want to bid for.

The face-to-face activity will need to be costed in and fully funded for the awarded scholars.

UK university participation criteria

• All participating institutions must be listed on the UK Home Office Register of Student Route Sponsors (approved Education Providers) and QAA/OfS/SFC/HEFCW/DfE inspected and approved

How to participate

In order to participate in this call, UK institutions are requested to send the required supporting documents listed below to the email address: season2023English@britishcouncil.org.vn , with the subject line “Scholarships for EL teachers - EoI” by 27 January 2023 (12.00 GMT), and complete the online Expression of Interest form at https://forms.office.com/e/dsvbQr7YZh .

The supporting documents include:

• Application to scholarships
• Track record (plus folder of evidence)
• Budget calculator

More detailed information can be found in the Call for Proposals document. Please refer to the Call and other annexes and supporting documents listed below for more details.

There will be a briefing session about this scholarship programme on 10 January 2023, 10:00 - 11:00 UK time. UK universities can submit questions for clarification and register to attend the briefing session by filling an online form at https://forms.office.com/e/7QQpZBMppW.

For specific questions related to the scholarship programme, please contact our English Programmes Vietnam team: Le Nga, Programme Manager, at nga.le@britishcouncil.org.vn or Davide Guarini Gilmartin, Senior Academic Manager, at DavideG.Gilmartin@britishcouncil.org.vn.