This is to present on the first phase of an action research project based on the practice of the design and the implementation of a Postgraduate Transition programme in a Sino-British joint institution in China. This action research project bears several unique features that make it more than a research project. To start with, its setting is unique in that the host institution of this programme is a Sino-British joint institution that is one of the best known of its kind in China. Secondly, it is on a newly-designed programme within its host institution. Thirdly, it is an action research project based on pedagogical practice that informs and improves pedagogical practice.

The rationale for the initiation of this postgraduate transition programme is the observation that the importance of postgraduate transition is very often undervalued in higher institutions, and the lack of support for postgraduates’ transition may lead to negative consequences that incur cost for postgraduates’ academic growth and cause negative impact on their institutions. Therefore, a postgraduate transition programme is proposed, with its key components including a blended module of online resources and interactive activities, onsite self-directed exploratory activities and workshops, featured annual event, and publications to voice postgraduates’ learning experiences and points of views. The evaluation of the piloting iteration of the programme will be evidenced with postgraduates’ survey feedback and interview responses.

It is hoped that the sharing of the design and the implementation of this postgraduate transition programme will bring pedagogical practitioners and educational researchers information of referential value on the current practices of postgraduate transition support in Sino-Foreign universities in China.

Keywords: Postgraduate Transition, Sino-British Joint Institution, Action Research.