As 2025 draws to a close, we recognize the CIS global community’s legacy of bold ambition, collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to guide and support the young people we educate.

This year brought us continual, significant change, yet our community steadily adapted, pursued innovative practices, and demonstrated resilience, proving our shared commitment to embody and develop socially responsible leadership through international education. 

What did our work look like in 2025?

 

Collaboration: The heart of our global community

Our role as a convener and connector in international education grows stronger each year. We believe deeply in the value of engagement and dialogue across our global community.

Thousands across our global community in 121 countries—educators, counsellors, school and university leaders, governing board members and many more—gathered at events, workshops, webinars, and training courses to deliberate the forces impacting international education and how our practices must evolve to address them. 

Our members put their heads together to learn from each other during peer-led meetings, webinars and networking opportunities. They gained insights as we shared our knowledge via expert-led workshops, and they heard the perspectives of students reflecting on their hopes and fears.  

We’re working diligently to turn significant challenges into learning opportunities with new tools and resources. 

This year’s [Forum] theme was focused on the importance of adaptability and collaboration as we face changing and uncertain times—how important it is that we, as educators, learn to be adaptable and to embrace the power of collaboration to ensure that we can teach our students to do so too. I have a lot of new knowledge to take back to ICS Inter-Community School Zurich to strengthen my support for students and their families in navigating future plans. I leave with an overall sense of hope, in the knowledge that everyone in International Education is working together to ensure more inclusivity, flexibility and real-world relevance in education, both within the school environment and beyond.
—Rachel Doell, Future Pathways Advisor, Inter-Community School Zurich, Switzerland

 

 

 

Future focused: International Accreditation enables school improvement

How are we helping schools to take greater ownership of their evaluative and improvement processes, with accreditation being an opportunity for reflection and growth?

Schools continued to develop socially responsible learning communities in 2025 through the CIS International Accreditation Framework. 

Using our framework, each school centres their strategic initiatives within their accreditation plan, as a developmental, personalised journey. Schools praised the increased choice, agency, and relevance, with one school leader noting, 

‘This is an excellent evolution of the CIS accreditation process, focusing on schools developing their own capacity to improve.’

Another leader highlighted how the process now gives voice to all stakeholders, especially those previously underrepresented.

And ICAISA (the association that accredits our organization as an accrediting body) completed our interim review, its report citing us as “a relationship-driven, systems-based, agile learning organization with a clear, human-centred mission”.

 

Assessing what we value: Student competencies 

How are we helping schools and universities to take a new approach to assessment and recognition that values a broader range of students’ competencies and successes?

In partnership with the University of Melbourne, we introduced the New Metrics for International Schools (NMIS) program. Our objective is to use next generation assessment and recognition practices for competency-based learning across diverse school communities, and together, use what we learn to lead the global recognition and selection agenda.

By focusing on student acquisition of core competencies, such as acting ethically, quality thinking, and developing social responsibility, we aspire to enable students to navigate their futures with wisdom and integrity.

To date, 23 schools in 13 countries have joined the movement to develop assessment practices across the CIS global community. Read insights and key takeaways. 

A new cohort will start in 2026! Learn more about the programme and sign up your school.

 

Creating positive educational transitions

How are we helping schools and universities to strengthen support for students as they transition within communities and from secondary school to higher education, to their careers and life beyond?

The 2025 CIS Global Forum welcomed over 900 admissions, guidance and student services professionals from schools and universities worldwide, with peer-led sessions and programming that reflect our holistic approach to strengthening the student experience.

Plus! A new executive track at the Forum offered content to long-serving professionals in international higher education admissions and guidance, including sessions on career employability in an AI-driven world, belonging and bias in global education, university strategies for academic performance, data storytelling, and leadership in university admissions.

 

'It was fitting that Dr Dirk Van Damme opened the Forum with a powerful message to our international audience on adaptability, certainly in education but in life too!

'Often, we equate consistency with success and change with failure, and even our systems reward certainty and penalise experimentation, BUT growth depends on both.

'Every pivot, transfer, or “wrong turn” can be a profound form of learning. Adaptability, similar to empathy or communication, isn’t innate and IS trainable; it flourishes only when we create space for people to experiment, reflect, and recover.'

—Robert Nowak, Associate VP of Enrollment Management and Dean of Admission, Lawrence University, USA

 

 

We also launched the CIS Educational Transitions Framework and Foundations of Transitions Care five-week course to enhance how institutions develop and implement comprehensive transitions-care practices. 

With the new framework and targeted resources for schools and universities, we broadened our higher education services, guiding and supporting university recruitment, admissions, student services and orientation teams to guide students as they navigate their educational journeys and future pathways.

 

Safeguarding: Prioritising well-being & student safety

How did we help school communities to address the most significant risks to their students’ physical, social and emotional well-being?

In 2025, we launched the International Safeguarding Development Programme, providing safeguarding leads with core learning as they develop their practices using the CIS International Safeguarding Toolkit. 

The new programme provides comprehensive resources in recognition that safeguarding is a continuous learning journey, not just a compliance exercise. This year-long training programme provides eight learning sessions and access to the online toolkit to manage and monitor work within the school. 

'We're so pleased to expand our child protection and safeguarding services with this great programme for schools. This means your safeguarding lead can sign up to attend eight expert-led sessions, including case-study consultations, hundreds of resources, and online learning activities. Plus, your school community benefits from access to a developmental toolkit that helps the whole community monitor safeguarding practices. The peer networking aspect of this programme—via cohort-based professional development across CIS schools—is another valuable benefit.'
—Dan Furness, CIS Head of Safeguarding and Well-being

Our student well-being resources, including the Student Agency Pack, have been widely accessed—especially by school guidance counsellors, making it the most viewed CIS resource by guidance counsellors in 2025.

 

Inclusion & socially responsible leadership

How are we helping school leaders and governing bodies to strengthen their working relationships and effectiveness?

We remain committed to strengthening socially responsible leadership, via a contextually relevant, inclusive approach for each community. Schools can now access a joint programme for leaders and governors designed to strengthen their whole-school approach to meet the specific needs of the families they serve. 

‘As leaders, we need to find our voices and develop new approaches to advance socially responsible leadership, even though this can be difficult to do right now. Continual advocacy for international education is how we can move forward to transcend the challenges we face.’
—Jane Larsson, CIS Executive Director

Our ever-growing library of resources empowers our members to explore and embed what it means to be socially responsible into their daily practices. This includes information about inclusive leadership and the principles to help them enter and navigate what can be challenging work. Members can access these resources and sign up to learn more via the CIS Community portal > Services > Socially responsible leadership)

 

Looking ahead: Our vision for the future

2025 has been a year of progress, learning, and resilience for the CIS global community. Through innovation in accreditation, collaborative working, holistic support for student transitions, robust safeguarding, and a deep commitment to socially responsible leadership, we continue to shape the future of international education.

As we look forward to 2026, our vision remains clear: to create a connected, informed, and empowered global education community—as advocates for international education, ready to meet the challenges of a changing world and shape a brighter future for all. 

Read: CIS Executive Director, Jane Larsson, wrote What are our next steps as advocates for international education?

We’ll continue to explore big questions around adaptability in the age of AI and report on the development of practices to assess complex competencies. 

I’ll leave you with this slide from a recent CIS webinar by Charles Fadel from the Center for the Curriculum Redesign (CCR) as food for thought …

 

Image credit: Copyright to the Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR)