This conference will be the first of a series of three policy forums under the British Council’s Higher Education for Employability programme, bringing together policy makers and practitioners from the UK and the seven programme countries to share experience, good practice, and lessons learned. This first event aims to explore how we can increase higher education institutions’ capacity to respond to a growing need to engage internationally, play a role in the global knowledge economy, and engage in research collaborations across borders through improving the English ability of their faculty, students and staff.