Reading graduate Alison Barrett MBE, Country Director for the British Council in India, shared why strengthening UK-India educational partnerships is so important, and how it felt to receive the University of Reading’s Distinguished Fellowship Award.
Alison was presented with the Distinguished Fellowship Award during a special ceremony at the University’s networking reception in New Delhi, in recognition of her pivotal role in fostering educational collaboration between the UK and India.
Alison, who studied English and history at Reading in the 1990s, said: “I am deeply honoured to receive a Distinguished Fellowship from the University of Reading, where I spent my formative years as a curious student 30 years ago. That same curiosity and passion for lifelong learning continues to drive me today.
“In many ways I feel like I have come full circle, and I am privileged to be able to give back through fostering knowledge exchange, championing learning, and advocating for sustainable solutions in my role at the British Council in India.
“This is a reminder that education is not just about where we begin, but how we continue to grow, connect and make a difference.”
Building connections
The British Council supports peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between the UK and countries worldwide. Alison has worked for the British Council since 1997 and currently leads all operations across arts and culture, education and English programmes as Country Director.
Alison said: “At the British Council we strongly believe that if people have the opportunity to understand each other and their cultures better, then they are more likely to work together, collaborate, visit each other’s countries, and build solutions to global challenges together. They are less likely to try and resolve disagreements through conflict.
“We build opportunities for young people to develop that deep understanding of each other through the medium of arts, language and education. These three pillars create boundless opportunities for deep dialogues to take place and opportunities to exchange knowledge and build connections.”
The British Council has a network of about 100 countries around the world, with India being one of their biggest operations and one of their priority countries. Alison also sits on the organisation’s global leadership team.
She said: “It’s an enormous privilege working with our expert staff who are absolutely dedicated to ensuring that everything we do is beneficial for young people in both India and the UK. Mutuality is one of our really strong values – the more people who understand India and understand the UK, results in a stronger relationship overall. And a strong people-to-people relationship is the fundamental bedrock between our countries.”
Educational collaboration
Alison believes that international educational collaboration is one of the most important ways in which we can strengthen the UK-India relationship, because “through international education you ultimately create opportunities for young people to develop their intercultural competence, language proficiency, enhance their global understanding and build international networks.”
Alison experienced this herself early in her career. After graduating from Reading, she worked in Japan on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme.
She said: “I’d always wanted to explore more of the world and whilst at Reading I heard about the JET programme – this is a Japanese government initiative that enables young people to work in a school in Japan. I spent a year there as an English teacher and loved it so much, both the teaching and immersing myself in a different culture and language.
“I then returned to the UK and decided to get my formal teaching qualifications so I could continue my career in international education and my travels.
“I fell in love with India – I’ve always felt very much at home here and I am fascinated every day by the culture, history and diversity.”
In 1997, Alison applied to work as an English teacher for the British Council in Delhi and remained in India for close to 20 years, before returning in 2022. Her career with the British Council has also taken her to Pakistan, the UAE and Thailand, where she was based for five years overseeing programmes across 14 countries in East Asia.
Following her passion, Alison’s career with the British Council has focused strongly on educational collaboration, including quality assurance of English Language exams and most recently, advising UK Universities who are opening campuses for students in India. She shared that one of her career highlights, among many others, was running large scale teacher education programmes with state governments designed to empower teacher educators and teachers to improve the English language skills of millions of students.
“Working on this initiative at scale with a national and UK team of researchers, academics and project managers was a very proud moment for me,” Alison reflected.
A love for literature
But before Alison discovered a passion for education, her first love was literature, and she shared how her time at Reading set her on the path for her inspirational career.
Alison reflected that Reading was “pivotal in the first stages of my career. Getting my degree positioned me really well to secure my spot on the competitive JET programme and my educational career just grew from there. I’ve always been crazy about books and reading and always loved English and history – the University offered me the opportunity to study two subjects I was passionate about in one degree, on a beautiful campus.
“Language and literature is a huge part of the work we do at the British Council. By connecting people and ideas, literature and languages, we’re able to bring diverse stories and perspectives to new audiences. Understanding our shared history is key to understanding our future together. We champion the Indian and English languages and the interplay between them, building capacity in translation and multilingual pedagogy through our work.
“For example, we worked with a UK organisation called English Pen to provide grants to translate works from Indian languages into English. Deepa Bhasthi, one of the translators that we supported, later translated Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp, which just won the International Booker Prize. This is really exciting as it’s the first time a book written in the Southern Indian language of Kannada, from the state of Karnataka, has won.” Alison added:
“One of the most valuable takeaways from my time at Reading has to be the lifelong friendships I formed there, particularly within the beautiful setting of Wantage Hall. Seven of us are still really close friends and we meet up regularly 30 years later.”
Shaping a better future
Alison reflected on what she hopes the future will hold for UK-India relations.
She said: “I think we’re currently at an inflection point in transnational education between the UK and India. Over the last couple of years there have been a remarkable number of innovative and groundbreaking partnerships established between UK and India institutions. Everything from dual degree programmes, to joint masters or PhD programmes, to innovative industry partnerships and global hubs of UK universities in India.
“Six UK universities are now planning to open campuses in India from 2026 and offer their degrees in country following the opening of the University of Southampton’s campus in August 2025. This is unprecedented and demonstrates the openness of the Indian education system to new and innovative models, as well as a shift in international education as universities are starting to bring education to where the students are, making it more affordable.
“What I hope to see over the next five to ten years is all of those universities opening their doors to both Indian and UK students, and really flourishing and thriving in this vibrant higher education ecosystem.”
Alison underlined that all the work she and her team undertake is focused on culture. She said: “Everything that we do at the British Council is ultimately about culture. It’s about understanding our past to shape a better future together; it’s about ensuring we better understand our history so it can help us understand where we want to get to; and also how intertwined our lives are all over the world.
“Culture informs our behaviours and our choices, it’s what drives us to make the right decisions, informs how we respect and interact with other people, and what helps us enjoy and appreciate the world around us.”
Find out more about Alison and the work of British Council India.
