The University of Warwick has joined forces with a group of ten UK universities and sector organisations to launch the Global Response Platform (GRP), a new, sector-wide approach that will enable higher education institutions to coordinate actions in response to crises affecting students, academics and higher education systems overseas.
The founding universities of the initiative are Cardiff University, Birkbeck College, Abertay University, University of the Arts London, the University of Leeds, the University of London and the University of Warwick, with discussion underway with a further 20 UK universities to join the initiative in the coming months. Universities UK (UUK), the British Council, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and Cormack Consultancy Group - which led the successful Ukraine Twinning initiative - will be represented as part of an advisory group. Mosaik Education, a UK NGO working on refugee access to higher education across 10 international contexts, will host the coordination of the Global Response Platform's activities.
Prof Michael Scott, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International), said:
Supporting learners whose education has been disrupted by crisis is both a responsibility and an opportunity for the UK higher education sector.
This builds directly on Warwick's long-standing commitment to supporting academics and students affected by conflict and displacement around the world Link opens in a new windowthrough initiatives such as our Sanctuary scholarships and international partnerships.
The Global Response Platform allows us to move beyond individual, adhoc efforts and instead help shape a coordinated, sector-wide approach that reflects our shared values.
By working together, we can open meaningful pathways for students whose futures depend on continued access to education.
A collaborative, shared model for crisis response
Amid growing global instability - including conflict-driven displacement and disruption to education - universities have often wanted to act but faced fragmented pathways to do so, limited staff capacity, and duplicated effort.
The GRP will provide a practical mechanism for universities to collaborate on crisis response through shared learning, joint planning, coordinated delivery and cost-sharing across multiple contexts. This model aims to enable impact at scale while sharing burdens between individual institutions at a time of financial pressure for higher education.
Aligning with UK international education priorities
The launch comes as the UK's International Education Strategy places renewed emphasis on transnational education (TNE) and international partnerships. The GRP will leverage UK higher education's unique capacities in international education to deliver sustained impact, including in contexts where displaced learners are most likely to be living outside the UK.
Initial projects: refugee inclusion in UK overseas branch campuses, online provision
The GRP's initial projects will focus on:
- Expanding access to online resources and courses for learners in crisis-affected contexts;
- Including refugee students in UK universities' overseas branch and partner campuses, beginning with a collaborative project in Egypt, launched in January 2026, involving Mosaik Education, the University of London, European Universities in Egypt and UNHCR; and
- Developing a shared repository of learning, best practices and activity mapping to strengthen knowledge exchange and reduce duplication across the sector.
Ben Webster, CEO, Mosaik Education explained:
For many of the students we work with, the biggest barrier isn't skills or ambition -it's the lack of opportunities where they live. Whether in refugee camps in Jordan, communities in Egypt or settlements in Uganda, talented learners are being left without pathways to higher education. The Global Response Platform brings together the collective strength of UK universities to change that, creating coordinated, practical routes for refugees to access quality education wherever they are.
Warwick's involvement in the Global Response Platform will be coordinated through the University's Global Conflict Response Working Group. Colleagues wishing to find out more are invited to contact the Secretary to the GCRWG, Tania Zahorskaya.
