From research to action: How schools & universities are strengthening educational transitions-care

Every year, internationally mobile students move between schools, countries, cultures, and education systems. These transitions can shape their confidence, well-being, sense of belonging, and readiness for what comes next.

Supporting them is vital. How we support them is key.

One year ago, CIS launched the Educational Transitions Framework to help schools and universities take a more intentional approach to supporting students through change.

What has happened since has exceeded expectations.

Across the CIS community, members are using the Framework to bring teams together, strengthen student support, inform institutional strategy, shape professional learning, and build stronger connections between schools and universities.

What began as a research-informed resource has grown into a wider body of work that is helping institutions strengthen practice, collaboration, and continuity of care for students.

Why educational transitions-care matters

The CIS Educational Transitions Framework was developed to help schools and universities better support students moving between schools, countries, cultures, and from secondary to higher education.

These transitions can bring exciting opportunities as well as challenges. Students may need to adapt to new academic expectations, unfamiliar environments, changing relationships, and questions about identity and belonging.

The Framework encourages institutions to take a coordinated approach to supporting students through these experiences. When schools and universities work together, they can help students build confidence, resilience, and a stronger sense of readiness for what comes next.

Helping schools start whole-institution conversations

One of the most encouraging outcomes has been hearing how schools are using the Framework and our CIS Educational Transitions Framework Self-audit Tool to bring different stakeholders together.

Rather than viewing transitions-care as the responsibility of a single person, role or department, schools are exploring how support can be shared across counselling, safeguarding, pastoral care, teaching, leadership, and student well-being teams.

Early feedback suggests the Framework is helping schools identify strengths, uncover gaps, and make existing work more visible.

As one counsellor explained:

"Having this tool made us realise that we need to create a comprehensive document to show how more stakeholders, beyond university guidance counsellors, are addressing these needs."

This reflects one of the Framework's central ideas: students experience transitions across every aspect of school life, so supporting them effectively requires a whole-institution approach.

Connecting safeguarding and transitions-care

The inaugural CIS Institute on International Admission & Guidance in India provided an opportunity to explore another important dimension of this work: the relationship between safeguarding and educational transitions-care.

A workshop led by Dan Furness, CIS Director of Safeguarding & Well-being, and Sarah Pearl, CIS Assistant Director of International Student Transitions, explored how safeguarding and educational transitions intersect, particularly for vulnerable and at-risk students.

The workshop reinforced an important message: successful transitions are about more than academic preparation.

For some students, positive transitions depend on coordinated safeguarding measures, intentional planning, and support networks that extend across institutions and educational sectors.

The strong engagement from participants highlighted growing interest in bringing together counsellors, safeguarding professionals, university admissions representatives, and student services teams to examine student experiences from multiple perspectives.

Connecting the Framework to the CIS Protocol for Developing Socially Responsible Learning Communities

As part of their (re-)accreditation journey through CIS International Accreditation, schools are using the Educational Transitions Framework to guide a focused, evidence-informed inquiry into how students experience key moments of change.

By applying transitions-care during key moments of educational transitions, both within a school and for students preparing for post-secondary options, schools examine academic continuity, pastoral and student support, student readiness and well-being in a more intentional way.

This work is helping communities move from isolated transition practices toward a shared, whole-school approach that can be reflected on, refined and extended as part of their organizational learning.

Continuing research and strengthening practice

The work continues to be shaped by research.

This year, we published and presented new CIS Research emerging from our educational transitions initiative. At the APAIE Conference in Hong Kong, Jane Barron, CIS Transitions-Care & Mobility Consultant, presented a literature review examining the experiences and needs of international students transitioning from school to higher education.

Drawing on more than 230 academic and grey literature sources, the review explored the complex needs of international students and provided further evidence for the importance of belonging, well-being, student agency, cultural context, and collaboration between schools and universities.

The research reinforces something many educators already know: supporting internationally mobile students requires shared responsibility and coordinated support across the student journey.

From framework to service: supporting institutional improvement

One of the most significant developments over the past year has been the way the Framework is now informing our consulting and evaluation services for CIS members.

The first large-scale pilot application has taken place in partnership with a school group to evaluate their higher education services and transitions-care support.

Using the Framework as its foundation, the evaluation examined educational transitions-care and higher education services across multiple schools. The work identified opportunities to strengthen strategy, improve consistency, and enhance the student experience.

The project demonstrated that the Framework can serve not only as a guide for supporting students, but also as a practical tool for evaluating systems and aligning practice across institutions.

Growing international engagement

Interest in educational transitions-care continues to grow internationally.

In 2026, we shared the Framework and related research at the ISCA Conference in Prague, Czechia; the SGIS Conference in Zug, Switzerland; the CIS Summit in Hong Kong; the ACAMIS Leadership Conference in Guangzhou, China; the Cambridge East Asia Schools Conference in Shenzhen, China; the UKCISA Conference in Glasgow, Scotland; and the IACAC Conference in Pittsburgh, USA.

Across these events, a common theme emerged: schools and universities are looking for practical ways to move beyond isolated initiatives and create more connected support systems for students.

These conversations continue to highlight the value of bringing together educators, counsellors, admissions professionals, student services teams, and safeguarding specialists to strengthen support for internationally mobile students.

Building capacity through professional learning

The Framework has also become the foundation for new professional learning opportunities.

The five-week online Foundations of Transitions-Care course gives participants the time, structure, and shared language to move from awareness to intentional, research-informed practice.

Through practical activities, personal reflections, discussion forums, and collaborative learning, participants connect key concepts to their own contexts and develop resources they can use immediately within their institutions.

Participants consistently describe the course as practical, engaging, and directly relevant to their work.

"The activities helped me apply transitions-care concepts directly to my own context. They made abstract ideas more meaningful and actionable."

“It's actually scary that we don't have more regular education around transitions-care, and that this term was new to me when starting the course (after 10+ years of working in schools internationally). Anyone who feels like this comes naturally to them because they've lived it should absolutely take this course, as it's research-based, purposeful, and sets you up for strong momentum in moving transitions-care forward in schools.”

This is what makes the course so valuable: it helps schools and universities translate research into action.

Looking ahead: Students as the bridge

The momentum behind educational transitions-care continues to grow.

Over the coming year, CIS will continue expanding this work through professional learning, conferences, webinars, member connections, evaluation services, and new opportunities for collaboration across the CIS community.

One highlight will be the third Bridging the Gap Between Schools and Universities Workshop in Prague this November, taking place before the CIS Global Forum on International Admission & Guidance.

This year's theme, Students as the Bridge, places student voice, agency, and lived experience at the centre of the conversation. Participants will work together to identify challenges, explore opportunities for collaboration, and design practical approaches to strengthening transitions-care across educational sectors.

A growing movement centred on students

One year ago, the CIS Educational Transitions Framework began as a resource.

Today, it is helping schools and universities build shared understanding, strengthen collaboration, develop new practices, and create more intentional support for students navigating some of the most significant moments in their educational journeys.

Most importantly, it reinforces a simple but powerful idea: when schools, universities, students, families, and professionals work together, educational transitions can become opportunities for growth, belonging, and success.

By Valérie Besanceney, CIS International Advisor, Transitions-Care and Mobility & Sarah Pearl, CIS Assistant Director, International Student Transitions and Higher Education Services