The UK and Australia’s bid for Southeast Asia
The region is emerging as a “very strategic and economically important bloc within global politics”, according to Leighton Ernsberger, director of education for East Asia at the British Council.
According to him, “there’s no doubt that this is why governments at the highest level – particularly in the UK and Australia – are eager to strengthen ties with what you might call a strategic region for all sorts of reasons.”
At the same time, governments within Southeast Asia are becoming increasingly interested in Transnational Education (TNE). While countries such as Singapore and Malaysia are well established players in this space, countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are now actively expanding their engagement.
UK-Vietnam
In October this year, the UK and Vietnam governments elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, paving the way for closer education cooperation and new TNE opportunities. The deal means that Vietnam is opening the door to UK institutions to establish branches and expand operations in the country, as it positions itself as an emerging international education hub.
It comes as Vietnam looks to move beyond its traditional role as a major sending country and towards welcoming more international students, with the country making policy tweaks to bring it in line with competing destinations.
Ernsberger describes a “moment of take-off” for Vietnam, reflected in the sharp rise in the number of Vietnamese students enrolled in UK TNE programs delivered in-country. According to HESA data, enrolments have surged from 2,985 in 2018/19 to 12,500 in 2023/24 – a dramatic post-Covid increase.
By comparison, only 3,540 Vietnamese students were studying in the UK during the 2023/24 academic year.
“In mature TNE markets this is normal, but the switch happened quickly,” said Ernsberger.
Australia-Southeast Asia
Meanwhile, Australia’s public universities are being seriously incentivised by federal government to deepen engagement with the region. This renewed focus on Southeast Asia is reflected in the the government’s report, Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, which sets out a a plan to deepen ties between Australia and Southeast Asia in key areas such as education, agriculture and resources.
Under the government’s National Planning Level (NPL), which effectively limits the number of new international students Australian providers may enrol annually, public universities can seek to expand their individual enrolment allocations by evidencing stronger engagement with Southeast Asia.
Australian branch campuses in Southeast Asia already deliver to over 35,000 students, and in 2024, Australia established the highest number of new branch campuses in a single year since the first was established over 30 years ago.
But recent headlines are a signal of the massive further investment universities are willing to make. In October 2025, Monash University announced plans to open its second Malaysia campus, marking its largest-ever investment in education and research in the country.
The university has committed a RM2.8 billion (USD $1bn) local investment into a new Monash campus in Kuala Lumpur’s financial district, set to open in 2032, with eventual capacity for 22,500 students and 1,700 staff.
UK-Australia-Southeast Asia
Earlier this year, Australia’s Deakin University and the UK’s Lancaster University saw the fruits of their partnership come to life – opening the doors of their joint campus in West Java, Indonesia.
It marks the first UK-Australian TNE venture in Indonesia, giving students in Indonesia the opportunity to undertake dual undergraduate programs from Deakin and Lancaster universities.
For Ernsberger, it’s “exciting” to see the UK and Australia come together in this way.
He draws a distinction between the Deakin–Lancaster campus and the “aggregator” approach common in Singapore, where private providers host programs from several international university partners simultaneously. For him, the Deakin-Lancaster partnership stands out as two universities “with a shared stake delivering together”.
Depending on appetite, Ernsberger sees potential for similar partnership models to take shape in the future.
Looking to the future
Speaking to The PIE News, Rob Lawrence, principal at Prospect Research university & Marketing, and an expert in forecasting future education demand, said the next frontier of engagement with Southeast Asia could come from multinational corporations partnering with universities to deliver TNE.
Southeast Asia, he said, represents “the most obvious high-demand region to build such a foundation, given its strategic stepping zone into Asia”.
Lawrence describes this shift as “an inevitable consequence of specialist demands in areas such as cyber and AI, where corporations need ready access to suitably qualified professionals who possess applied knowledge and competencies”.
It’s worth acknowledging that what is uniquely impressive about TNE, when it’s successful, is that it’s self-sustaining
Leighton Ernsberger, British Council
More broadly, Lawrence expects foreign universities to continue growing and adapting to new patterns of student demand.
“Unlike in many western nations, there is a much greater expectation for on campus delivery in Asia,” he noted.
And with greater numbers of mature age students looking to reengage with higher education to remain relevant in light of new technologies and industries, he also believes demand for alternative blended delivery options “will undoubtedly grow” to cater for this wave of reskilling.
He added that as Southeast Asian economies continue to expand and attract more multinational corporations, students will increasingly view foreign education as a way to “differentiate themselves”.
“Thanks to heightened family wealth and organisations seeking unique specialist skills and knowledge, Southeast Asian demand for standout education opportunities will increase,” he said.
And as Southeast Asia’s popularity continues, Ernsberger wants to encourage potential partners to consider the financial viability of any TNE provision.
“There’s a big push for the soft power advantage to having strong TNE relationships, and that is the better narrative from an international perspective… but I do think that there is a recognition within the British Council, and the UK government and even the host government, that it has to be sustainable.”
“It’s worth acknowledging that what is uniquely impressive about TNE, when it’s successful, is that it’s self-sustaining.”
Ernsberger’s comments follow the launch of the British Council’s 2025-2027 TNE strategy, designed to grow and diversify the UK’s global education links through sustainable, mutually beneficial partnerships.
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