Based in Singapore, Leighton leads the British Council’s Education portfolio across South East Asia, North East Asia, Australasia and China. Leighton has worked in public education for 20 years in UK, US, South Asia and East Asia. In the UK, India and Nepal he has worked on vocational qualification reform, including programmes funded by the Asian Development Bank, the European Union and the UK Government. Across South Asia and East Asia his focus has turned to international Higher Education, including Transnational Education, working closely with the sector and key regional organisations like the ASEAN secretariate, the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), Asia Europe Foundation and UNESCO Asia Pacific on programmes like the EU’s Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE) and the British Council’s joint Transformative Leadership Initiative with SEAMEO’s Regional Institute for Higher Education and Development (RIHED). Leighton studied at Cardiff University, University of Warwick and, most recently obtained an MA in Educational Planning, Economics and International Development, from the Institute of Education, University College London.