British Council Connections Through Culture Grants 2026: £5,000

British Council Connections Through Culture Grants 2026: £5,000–£15,000 for UK and International Creative Partnerships

Status: the 2026 round is closed

This page is a historical reference for the British Council’s Connections Through Culture (CTC) 2026 grants. The official programme page says applications closed on 12 August 2026 at 23:59 BST. It reports that the round received applications from 35 countries and says provisional selection outcomes are expected from 14 October 2026 onward. Those are outcome notices for people who submitted to the completed round; they do not reopen the application form. The official page does not announce a new application cycle or a future deadline. It invites interested readers to join the British Council mailing list for news about future rounds.

The deadline field retains the published closing date for this round, and historicalReference = true marks the listing as an archive entry. Neither the date nor the application details below should be read as an invitation to submit now. If the British Council announces another cycle, its own programme page, toolkit and FAQs should be checked again because future eligibility, funding limits, dates and instructions may change.

What the 2026 grant supported

CTC supported meaningful partnerships, cross-cultural exchange and longer-term collaboration between the UK and participating countries. The British Council described grants from £5,000 to £15,000 for artists, creative practitioners, cultural professionals, organisations, festivals, biennials, hubs, networks and collectives. This was a single award per project or partnership, not a separate amount for each partner. The grant request had to cover the partnership activity as a whole, and the maximum varied by country.

The programme covered a broad range of arts and creative work. Published examples include architecture, design, fashion and craft; creative technology such as digital arts, XR or immersive projects and games; film; literature; music; theatre and dance; and visual arts. Possible activities included co-creation, collaborative artistic development, residencies, exchanges, workshops, talks, research and development, exhibitions, performances, showcases, public programmes, audience engagement, artist development, capacity building and shared learning. A public-facing final product was not essential: research, creative development, relationship building and knowledge exchange could also fit where the collaboration was clear.

The 2026 round brought together programmes previously known as Biennials Connect (Visual Arts) and Architecture, Design and Fashion Biennials and Festivals Grants. The British Council also described CTC as its major Arts grants programme for that year in place of International Collaboration Grants. Those programme relationships explain why the scope included both longer-term partnerships and festival or biennial showcase activity.

Grant amounts and country limits

The official page set the overall range at £5,000–£15,000, with a maximum per project or partnership rather than per partner. The highest ceiling, £15,000, applied to partnerships involving Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Pakistan, Peru or Saudi Arabia. A £10,000 ceiling applied to Mainland China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and the Western Balkans countries listed in the guidance. Lower published ceilings were £9,000 for Egypt, £8,000 for Mexico, £7,500 for Kenya, £6,500 for South Africa, and £5,000 for Australia, New Zealand and Tanzania. The grant had to cover the full activity, including both partners’ costs, and budgets had to be prepared in pounds sterling. Applicants needed to check the toolkit’s country table because these ceilings were not interchangeable and do not establish funding for another round.

These figures are the 2026 limits and should not be carried forward automatically into a future round. The British Council’s Applicant Guidance Toolkit contains the controlling country table and budget rules. The page also says that its participating-country list included Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Mainland China, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Vietnam. Readers should consult the official materials for any later round rather than relying on this archived list.

Who could apply in the closed round

The 2026 partnership had to include at least one UK-based partner and at least one partner based in an eligible participating country. Each partner had to be legally based in the country from which it was applying both at application time and throughout the project activity period. Eligibility was based on legal location and the ability to take part in and manage the funded work, rather than simply on nationality. The programme named artists and creative practitioners, arts and cultural organisations, cultural professionals, festivals, biennials, creative hubs, networks, collectives and organisations working across arts, culture and the creative sectors as eligible applicant types.

For organisational partnerships, the toolkit required the partners to be separate legal entities. It also excluded funding bodies from applying. Applicants needed to be able to receive and manage grant funding under applicable local legal, tax and registration rules; requirements could vary by country and were subject to due diligence. The relevant country guidance therefore mattered alongside the general partnership test.

Projects organised by, or taking place as part of, visual arts or architecture, design, fashion and craft festivals, biennials or showcasing activity had to be led by an organisation, festival or biennial rather than an individual artist or practitioner. The FAQ explains that the project needed to show joint development, defined partner roles and mutual benefit. A partner could not simply be named as a venue, supplier or travel destination without a meaningful role in shaping and delivering the activity.

The fund was for arts, culture and creative-sector collaboration. A solely commercial project, or a proposal mainly intended to market a product or serve a commercial client without a clear cultural exchange or public benefit, was outside the stated fit. Existing partners could apply with a new or significantly developed project, while previously funded activity or duplicated cost lines could not be requested again. The official FAQ also excluded core salaries, normal contracted staff time and general overheads not directly attributable to delivery. Additional staff costs beyond normal hours could be included when reasonable, proportionate and clearly evidenced.

How applications were submitted

Applications for the completed 2026 round had to be completed in English and fully submitted through the Good Grants platform before the published deadline. The British Council said that drafts, incomplete submissions and applications still in progress after the deadline would not be considered, and it could not make exceptions after closure. The application form itself was the authoritative version of the questions; a downloadable question preview was available to help applicants prepare but could not be submitted as an application.

The official page instructed applicants to download and read the Applicant Guidance Toolkit and consult the FAQs before starting. The toolkit set out eligibility, country limits, eligible activity, assessment, budget and supporting-document requirements. A Partnership Letter of Intent template was provided. Applicants were asked to complete it, have all project partners sign it and upload it with the Good Grants application in Section 7, “Partnership Collaboration.” Depending on applicant type, country and activity, supporting documents could also include an individual’s CV or biography, links or portfolios, examples of previous work, permissions or licences, letters of support, or confirmation from a festival, biennial, venue or public presentation partner.

A complete proposal needed to make the collaboration understandable to assessors: who the partners were, why the partnership made sense, what each would contribute, how decisions and communication would work, what activities would take place, and what audiences, participants or sector groups would benefit. The British Council’s five published assessment areas were artistic or creative merit; partnership and collaboration; feasibility and project management; audience or participant engagement and impact; and equality, diversity, inclusion, environmental sustainability and social value. The strongest plans linked those points to a realistic schedule, specific responsibilities, a proportionate budget and a credible way to understand results.

Costs, delivery and payment terms

Eligible budget items could include professional fees for artists, facilitators, designers, specialists or other project contributors; necessary travel and accommodation; reasonable equipment and materials; venue hire and production; project-specific marketing; access costs; and translation or interpretation. Costs needed to relate directly to delivery, be explained in the itemised budget and fall within the relevant country ceiling. Costs already incurred before the grant agreement was signed, or already funded by the British Council or another funder, could not be charged to the grant. Other funding could support the project if the same activities and budget lines were not funded twice.

The British Council recommended that funding be split as equally as possible between the UK partner and the partner in the participating country, using a 50/50 division where appropriate and realistic. Where responsibilities or local costs made a different division sensible, applicants were expected to explain why it remained fair and proportionate. The FAQ also encouraged contingency planning for risks such as exchange-rate changes, travel increases, visa costs, conflict, instability or unexpected local expenses.

The funded delivery window for the 2026 round ran from 1 December 2026 through 31 December 2027, with all funded activity to be completed by the end of that period. Successful applicants were not permitted to start funded activity, incur grant-funded costs or make commitments based on an expected award before signing a grant agreement. Provisional selection was not confirmation of funding: successful applicants still needed to pass due diligence, provide requested records and complete contracting. The toolkit anticipated grant agreements and grantee onboarding in November 2026. The first instalment, 80% of the award, was expected to be processed during December 2026 and concluded by January 2027, subject to those conditions. The final 20% was to follow submission and approval of the final report under the agreement. Final reporting was due within one month of completion and no later than 31 January 2028. The schedule was explicitly indicative and could change with assessment, due diligence, contracting or country-specific requirements.

Reading this archive and finding future information

The dates and procedures here describe the completed 2026 round only. There is no new deadline to apply against in the official material reviewed for this update. The British Council’s current CTC page is still useful for checking programme announcements, but its 2026 application route should not be treated as open. Anyone monitoring for a later round can use the mailing-list invitation on that page and then read the new toolkit and FAQs when published.

For the definitive record of the 2026 programme, use the British Council Connections Through Culture 2026 page, the official 2026 FAQs and the linked Applicant Guidance Toolkit. The FAQs explain partnership rules, eligible costs, supporting documents, assessment and payment conditions. A new round may use a different schedule, country list, funding cap or application process, so historical details should not be assumed to carry over.