Passport to Study

How universities can continue to attract international students to their campuses

Passport to study

2 Times Higher Education 8 March 2012

Strategic thinkinghelpswin the creamof the student crop

Choosing which university to apply to used to be sosimple. Most UK students’ horizons did not stretchbeyond the shores of the British Isles. The things theyused to worry about were the price of a pint in the union

bar, how many men or women there were, “city” versus “campus”and whether their grant/student loan/parental top-up would covertheir accommodation costs as well as a healthy social life.

Today’s students are becoming consumers of higher education.The charging of tuition fees in the UK has levelled the playingfield with universities in the rest of Europe and beyond, and insome cases put non-UK institutions at an advantage, while theinternet and cheaper air travel has made it easier to researchalternatives.

However, the UK is playing catch-up with other countries.Going abroad to study is a long-established aspiration incountries such as South Korea and China. Competition is fiercefor the best students and having access to prospective studentsin their home country can be a real advantage for institutionswanting to attract them to UK campuses. Yet changes to visaregulations and the growth in the number of students studyingfor a UK degree qualification at an overseas campus (whichrecent news reports show to have risen by 23 per cent last year)mean that attracting these students to study in the UK is lookinga little harder than it once was.

For UK universities, attracting an application is only the firsthurdle – the risk of losing a student due to poor course selection,unrealistic or over-optimistic expectations or incompatibility witha particular university’s environment can jeopardise the relation-ship, with significant financial consequences for both parties.

Using experienced counsellors who are skilled in advisinginternational students helps ensure that these scenarios are rare.

When many aspects of a university are under so muchscrutiny, having a partner to assist in the recruitment of animportant group of students who can bring diversity, dedicationas well as funding to a UK campus, and with the reassurancethat their choice of course and provider has been carefully made,can be an important strategic step for many UK institutions.

Supplement editor: Fiona SalvageProduced by TSL Education Limited to a brief agreedwith IDP Education.Paid for by IDP Education. All editorial contentcommissioned by TSL Education Limited.To give us your feedback or suggest ideas, [email protected] sponsorship or advertising opportunities, [email protected] view this supplement as a digital edition, go towww.timeshighereducation.co.uk/IDP

Contents

3 In pursuit of learningStudents are travellingfurther than ever before

8 The net tightensTough immigration policiesare bad news for students

10 Blissful unionsMatching the right studentto the right university is key

14 Central componentsOverseas students are no longerjust income-generating add-ons

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8 March 2012 Times Higher Education 3

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Higher education todayknowsnoboundsInternational study has grown 77 per cent in the past decade, and theUK is right behind the US as a top destination. Victoria Bentata reports

students worldwide – a rise of 77 per centsince 2000. And it’s not all one way – Chinamay now be sending about 440,000 studentsabroad, but it has ambitious plans to attracthalf a million more from the rest of the worldto its shores.

So to what can this hugely successfulphenomenon be attributed? Why are studentstravelling in such large numbers and whatmakes overseas education so attractive?

Technological breakthroughUndoubtedly, the growth of an increasinglymoneyed and aspirational middle class inChina and other Asian countries has had ahuge effect on the market, but without theinformation revolution and ready access to theinternet, it is doubtful that the phenomenonwould have taken off in the way it has. Theinternet has allowed prospective students andtheir families to access information in a waynever before possible. But it is important not tounderestimate the political drivers: the relaxingof the Communists’ ideological grip on Chinahas allowed the Chinese to enrich themselves,while the fall of the Berlin Wall led to theliberation of Eastern Europe and a generationnow able to do what their parents never could,namely to travel outside their region. And withtechnology allowing easy access to information


T he popularity of studying abroad hasincreased dramatically in the past 30years, to the point where education is now

a major export for a large number of countries.The US leads the field as the top studentdestination – it enrolled 723,000 foreignstudents in 2010, with a combined annualvalue to the US economy of over $20 billion(£13 billion), according to figures from theInstitute of International Education (IIE).However, other anglophone countries such asAustralia, the UK and Canada are hard on itsheels, as are other destinations offeringEnglish-medium courses. French, German,Spanish and Russian-medium courses anddestinations lag some way behind but aretrying to compete.

Unimaginable though it seems today, backin 1975 it was Iran, with 33,021 studentsabroad, that topped the table of “sendingnations”. The UK came in at number six, onlymarginally behind China, which that year sent17,021 students abroad. By 2005, 343,126 ofChina’s students attended foreign universities,with India second at 123,559 and South Koreaclose behind at 95,885, according to figuresfrom the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development and Unesco.

Just four years on, OECD figures for 2009give a staggering tally of 3.7 million overseas

High hopes cheaperflights, as well as theinformation revolutionand political change,are making foreignstudy a realisticambition for moreyoung people

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effort to combat, first, the budget deficit and,second, perceived abuse of the visa systemby immigrants registering as students butintending instead to work and settle in the UK.

In an effort to eliminate the budget deficitby 2015, the British government’s £98 billion“tightening” measures, including the removalof the vast bulk of its teaching grant to univer-sities and consequent raising of the tuition feecap to £9,000 for most undergraduate UK andEU students at English universities, may driveincreased numbers of British students to con-template something foreign to most of them,namely crossing the Channel or some largerbody of water and becoming internationalstudents. There is a possibility that this mayherald a positive cultural shift, as DavidWilletts, the universities and science minister,commented in July 2011: “Supporting outwardmobility is as important an economic invest-ment as investing in the infrastructure of theUK.” His observations came in the wake of areport from the Confederation of BritishIndustry that declared that 75 per cent of itsmembers were dissatisfied with Britishstudents’ language skills and lack of “inter-national cultural awareness”, with potentiallydeleterious effects on future trade with theBRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India andChina). Certainly some European universities

from the most far-flung places, the educationmarketplace has gone global.

Countries with a strong and respectededucational brand, opportunities for studentsto work while they study and a reasonablelevel of fees make the move overseasattractive. While world-shaking events such as9/11, the SARS epidemic, the Asian economiccrisis and the present global financial crisishave affected student numbers, the effectshave usually been localised and/or temporaryand have not impacted significantly on thetotal student exodus. For example, visarestrictions introduced by the US after 9/11meant that US growth slowed (although itremained comfortably ahead), but otherdestinations, notably Australia and the UK,took up the slack. Similarly, adverse publicityregarding the H1N1 virus may have been thereason for a 26 per cent drop in US studentsgoing to Mexico in 2009, but Latin Americaand the Caribbean are still some of the fastest-growing student destinations, according tofigures from the IIE.

Domino effectWhat happens over the next few years in theUK will be particularly interesting. A coupleof fairly drastic changes have taken place ingovernment policy in the past year in an


The internethas allowedprospective studentsand their familiesto access informationin a way never beforepossible

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UKBA visa changes. Our biggest concern isthat the visa changes may create a sense thatthe UK is a relatively ‘student unfriendly’country and deter genuine students fromapplying, or encourage them to apply to studyin another country.”

No less attractiveHowever, Dominic Scott, chief executive ofUKCISA, is more optimistic, commenting:“International students generally say they areattracted to study in the UK because of thequality of its education, the reputation itsqualifications carry around the world and theopportunity to study in English – and none of


have seen significant increases in UKapplications. Dutch institutions in particularanticipate rich pickings among UK students:13 universities in the Netherlands have alreadybooked places at the Student World Fair(www.thestudentworld.com) in London inMarch 2012, second only to Canada’s cohort.However, Beatrice Merrick, director of servicesand research at the UK Council for Inter-national Student Affairs (UKCISA), is cautious:“Anecdotal data suggest numbers of UKstudents studying abroad will increase over thenext few years as potential undergraduatesseek alternatives to the UK system, but unlessthe commitments under Bologna [the Europeanhigher education harmonisation programme] tomake student loans portable are honoured, itwill remain a very small percentage of thestudent population who take this route, gener-ally restricted to those with family ties abroador specific careers advice from their schools.”

UK universities, though, are nervous aboutthe possibility, since many of their budgetsrequire significant year-on-year growth instudent numbers. For this reason, and withoverall UK student applications down by8.7 per cent at the 31 January deadline, manyhave made ambitious forecasts regarding thenumbers of international students they will beable to attract: Swansea University, for instance,reports an increase in overseas applications of30 per cent. But the government’s recenttightening of visa regulations may prevent themfrom realising these ambitions. Higherstandards of English will now be required forforeign students, who will be able to work foronly 10 hours a week instead of 20. Manyproviders will lose out if they do not achieve the“highly trusted sponsor” status that is a

requirement for any institution wishing to bringin students from overseas.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive ofUniversities UK, writing in Times HigherEducation in March 2011 and citing the£5 billion contributed annually to the UKeconomy by international students, warnedthat the Home Office’s proposals “will do greatdamage in significantly constraining the flowof international students into our universities”.

This concern is echoed by Tim Gutsell,director of the University of Essex’sinternational office, who confirms that “thereclearly has been an impact on the number ofapplications from outside the EU due to

Top destinationDutch universities are

looking to increasetheir cohort of UK

students

these primary factors is affected by the new visaregulations. Students do additionally want toknow that they are increasing their employ-ability. The opportunity to work in the UK fortwo years after completing their studies wastherefore very attractive, and students are dis-appointed to lose this opportunity. In somemarkets, such as India, we know this is particu-larly the case. The changes have undoubtedlybrought some negative publicity, and have hada negative impact on some students…However,for the majority of well-qualified students, theUK should remain an attractive destination.”

Arlene Griffiths, UK country managerfor IDP Education, the world’s largestinternational student placement provider,confirms this, saying that the removal of theTier 1 post-study work route had a big impact.Interestingly, however, anecdotal evidencefrom IDP’s client universities suggests that adecline in Indian postgraduate students hasbeen offset by an increase in undergraduateapplications from India. And the universitiesthemselves are adapting to the newenvironment. “UK universities are adoptinginternationalisation strategies that take aholistic approach to all aspects of their work,”Griffiths says.

The growth of “international campuses” isan interesting development and Peter Burges,IDP’s regional director for Southeast Asia(pictured right), thinks that they will becomeincreasingly popular, although whether theywill become more popular than their parentcampuses is hard to predict. “I think a moresignificant development will be the increasedcapacity of fully local education providers tomeet their students’ needs,” he says. Certainlythe growing ability of source countries to

provide a higher quality of education for theirown students represents a challenge touniversities trading on their long-standingacademic reputation.

Given all the uncertainties facing theuniversity system, what can UK universitiesdo to ensure that they continue to enjoygrowth, prosperity and high rankings? Whilethe jury is still out on the substantive effects ofthe recent changes in UK government policyand in the geopolitical landscape, it is clearthat higher education institutions could usesome help navigating uncharted seas.

This is where organisations such as IDPcome in. With 80 offices in 25 countries,Griffiths argues, IDP’s international network issecond to none and, with 40 years’ experienceworldwide and “a tradition of being pioneers”,it is perfectly positioned to serve providersacross the UK. Indeed, 35 UK institutionshave already signed up. IDP is keenly awareof the challenges facing today’s highereducation institutions. It fields a UK teamexperienced in international studentrecruitment roles, who can call on morethan 500 trained counsellors around theworld. In addition, IDP has good links withgovernment and invests significantly inmarket research often used by UKvice-chancellors to inform policy.As the co-founder and co-ownerof the International EnglishLanguage Testing System(IELTS), currently used in 130countries, IDP helps to ensurethat students are competentusers of English. It cites someimpressive statistics regardingthe success of its core philosophy,

which puts the quality of the student/university match in pole position.

Best possible matchResearch suggests that counselling students(and indeed parents) helps to identify theright course and institution for each individualstudent, ensuring that 89 per cent of studentsdo not transfer, 87 per cent complete theirdegree within the normal time frame and80 per cent never fail a subject. Griffiths sum-marises: “By genuinely placing the students’needs first to ensure the best match betweenstudent and university, we ensure the indi-vidual performs to their best so that theuniversity also enjoys good results and thestudent is not resource-intensive to support.Instead they are active contributors to, andrecipients of, the university experience.”

We are living in interesting times, and theonly certainty in the education marketplaceis that it will continue to evolve. IDP’s Burgespredicts that “the mix of both the sourceand destination countries will change”, andalthough the repercussions of the globalfinancial crisis and the Arab Spring have yetto play out, he is bullish about the future.

Recalling his own experience, he says:“An international education – and

I mean a real international educa-tion, one where the studentembarks upon the adventureof leaving home – is one ofthe greatest ‘life events’young people can undertake.I hope that our partnership

with UK institutions will helpus win more young people into

taking on this adventure.”


The changes havehad a negative impact.However, for themajority of students,the UK should remainan attractivedestination

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Good policymaking iscritical to ensuring thatstudents do not fall foulof immigration barriers,says Olga Wojtas

Many UK universities fear that Aprilwill be the cruellest month as the visareforms become more restrictive, no

longer allowing international higher educationstudents the opportunity to work for two yearsafter they complete their studies. Decisionsare also anxiously awaited on internationalstudents’ maximum length of study.

The UK is the second most populardestination for international students afterthe US, and its market share has been stable,from 11 per cent in 2001 to 12 per cent in2010. The US has 20 per cent while Australiahas 7 per cent and Canada has 5 per cent,IIE figures show.

But universities warn that in a ferociouslycompetitive market, the UK’s share may nowfall as a result of international studentsbeing subject to immigration regulations.They argue that students should be excluded

since they are in the UK only temporarily.Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of

Universities UK, says: “While the sector issupportive of measures designed to eliminateabuse within the system, it remains concernedthat the Home Office reforms extend wellbeyond this and are restricting recruitment oflegitimate international students.”

The Russell Group of large research-intensive universities states: “Internationalstudents are not economic migrants butrepresent a major export industry for the UK.”

There are currently almost 4 millioninternational students studying at universitylevel in countries outside the EU, and IDPEducation believes international educationwill continue to grow. But its chief strategyofficer, Warwick Freeland, says: “Thechallenge for governments is to set policieswhich attract international students for the

right reasons and which are sustainable.”The US has backtracked from the

restrictions it placed on international studentsafter 9/11, and both it and Canada havebenefited from the drop in the numbers ofstudents opting for the UK and Australia.

Freeland says Australia has now eased“some unnecessarily onerous visa conditions”and is allowing international students toremain in the country to work for at least twoyears after graduation.

“Australia’s new post-study work visarecognises why students enter internationaleducation: they want to build a career in theirchosen discipline. Now not only can they studyin Australia, but they have the chance to getto the first rung of their career there,” he says.

“These changes are being introduced nextyear and we expect that student numbers willpick up. But the Australian experience, and

Keeping thedoor open

Lack of opportunityinternational studentswill no longer be ableto work in the UK fortwo years after they

complete their studies

Asian locations the University of Nottingham is also known for its campuses in Malaysia and China


I think the UK experience, shows that inter-national education is highly competitive andthat government policymaking is critical inswinging the balance between declining andgrowing student numbers.”

There is a massive incentive for govern-ments to get the policymaking right, given thecontribution international education can maketo the economy, Freeland (pictured right) says.“In Australia, it is the country’s largest serviceexport: it’s bigger than tourism. And, in spiteof the problems in recent years, it is itsthird-largest export after coal and iron ore.”

Dandridge echoes this point: the UKcontinues to excel in the higher educationmarket despite the economic downturn, amarket that is growing at around 7 per centannually. International students contributeover £5 billion a year as well as bringingcultural and political benefits, she says.

Growth potentialThe Department for Business, Innovation andSkills (BIS) says the government has beenworking closely with the sector to promoteinternational demand for higher education,demand that it says is driven by the UK’sreputation for quality and academic standards.

A BIS spokesperson says that in theAutumn Statement, chancellor GeorgeOsborne announced plans to “capitalise onthe growth potential of education exports bylaunching HE Global, an online informationand advice portal for higher educationinstitutions wishing to expand abroad, anddeveloping a vehicle to bring togethergovernment, higher education and industryexpertise to package and sell education offersoverseas”.

Jo Beall, director of education and societyat the British Council, says the council isencouraged by the government’s commitmentand the importance it is placing on establish-ing new partnerships and strengtheningexisting relationships with key countriessuch as India, China and Brazil.

It supports the government’s intention toprevent abuse of the visa system, she says,since the UK’s reputation for quality is oneof its biggest assets.

“However, we are aware that some confu-sion has been caused in certain countries dueto the recent changes. We are committedtherefore to use our extensive presence on theground around the world to make sure that themessage gets out to potential applicants thatthe UK is still open for business.”

British Council research shows the UK’sglobal market share will dip gradually asstudent numbers rise globally and centres ofexcellence develop in regions such as Asiaand Latin America. But the number of appli-cants for a UK qualification is still projected toincrease in real terms, says Beall, and oppor-tunities for engagement with students anduniversities outside the UK are increasing.

Education iscompetitive andpolicymaking is criticalin swinging the balancebetween declining andgrowing studentnumbers

“The council’s programmes of policydialogues, partnership collaborations, studentmobility and market research are all workingtowards strengthening the UK’s position in thisrapidly changing sector, and we believe thatthe UK’s institutions are very well placed toremain at the vanguard of international highereducation over the next 10 years.”

Diverse partnerships neededThe University of Nottingham is known for itscampuses in Malaysia and China. ChristineEnnew, pro vice-chancellor for internationali-sation, says: “There is so much more tointernationalisation than just bringing inter-national students to the UK. That’s alwaysbeen important because of the impact thatinternational students have in terms ofdiversity on campus. But it’s also aboutinternational engagement through diverseforms of partnership, including those focusedon teaching, research, business engagementand capacity development.”

The visa reforms had given the impressionthat the UK did not welcome internationalstudents, she said, and having overseascampuses gives Nottingham greater flexibility.But she stressed that student recruitment wasonly one part of a broad range of their work.

Disquiet over visas would be a negativereason to establish a presence overseas, shesays, but there is evidence of a growingnumber of institutions looking to establishoverseas campuses.

“I think it’s a recognition that inter-nationalisation is a much broader processthan simply encouraging inward mobility.”

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Some Australian universities felt “causefor heartburn” when they learned thatIDP Education, their largest and most

trusted supplier of international students toAustralian universities since it was foundedin 1969, was to begin supplying other marketstoo, admits Aleksandr Voninski, director ofinternational and global relations at theUniversity of New South Wales. But far fromsomething to be feared, in the view ofVoninski and others, this expansion ishealthy. It multiplies the number of studentscoming through IDP’s doors, making thecompany even stronger. And that is good foreveryone, he says.

The student placement company, whichalso part-owns and administers theInternational English Language TestingSystem (IELTS), enables students seeking aninternational education to find a course,institution and country best suited for them.It now supplies students to universities in theUS, Canada and New Zealand. And inOctober 2010 it moved into the UK, therebycompleting its coverage of the five majorEnglish-speaking destinations of the vastmajority of international students.

Wide range of clientsIn the UK it already has 35 clients – spanningboth universities and pathway providers –and is in negotiation with a number of otherUK universities. (Like its competitors, IDP’sfee structures are based on studentssuccessfully arriving at institutions to beginprogrammes.) In the short time since itsset-up in the UK, the institutions it hasformed partnerships with run the gamut fromlarge and small research-intensives to thosewith a greater teaching focus. And, althoughit wasn’t officially scheduled to beginsupplying students until this academic year,more than 100 IDP students have alreadyarrived in the country. “The news just got out

that we were representing the UK,” explainsArlene Griffiths, IDP’s country manager for theUK, who heads a Cardiff-based team of sevenexperienced staff.

Huge student demandThe objective behind the UK expansion issimple, explains Griffiths, a former directorof the British Council’s Education UKPartnership. Thousands of students areapproaching IDP through its network of 80“source” offices across 25 countries in Asiaand the Middle East, interested in under-graduate or postgraduate study in one of thefive destination countries. Critical to IDP’smission is matching them up to the rightuniversities. And that means partnering with asuitable portfolio of UK institutions, spanninga range of missions and geographies. At thesame time, Griffiths stresses, the institutionneeds to be the right fit for IDP too. “We needto know we can deliver,” she says.

Among those to have formed partnershipswith IDP in the UK so far are Brunel, Durhamand Heriot-Watt universities and theUniversity of Exeter. Factors that attract theseinstitutions include the size of IDP’s source

Critical to IDPis matching studentsup to the rightuniversities. And thatmeans partnering witha suitable portfolioof UK institutions

market (many other agents operate in only oneor two countries), the fact that IDP is anexperienced company with a well-knownbrand, and its sizeable UK-based team thatknows and understands the UK market. “Theyaren’t just dipping their toes in,” notes JosiePilcher, international recruitment manager atHeriot-Watt.

The UK is already a well-establisheddestination for international students. Benefitsto institutions range from increased fee incometo more internationalised courses that provideexpanded learning opportunities, preparingstudents for work in a globalised economy anda diversification of the student body. (See tableabove.)

Institutions employ a range of strategiesto recruit international students: from usingagents such as IDP that have offices inprospective students’ home countries (aninstitution might typically use anywhere from40 to over 100 agents, with some increasinglylooking to become more discerning); toopening their own offices in the countriesto promote their institutions and supporttheir agents; to online marketing campaigns

Ablendof global reach,experienceandpartnershipleads to theperfect fitIDP is highly committed to matching students with the right institutions,Zoë Corbyn discovers, and it utilises every possible means to do so

ChinaIndiaNigeriaUSMalaysiaHong KongPakistanSaudi ArabiaCanadaThailand

Top 10destinations

University of ManchesterUniversity of NottinghamUniversity of WarwickUniversity College LondonUniversity of GreenwichUniversity of LeedsUniversity of SheffieldUniversity of HertfordshireUniversity of BirminghamLondon Schoolof Economics

The UK’s non-EU student cohort

Higher Education Statistics Agency data for 2009-10, undergraduate andpostgraduate combined

Top 10countries of origin

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and attendance at recruitment fairs. In theUK, typically about 30 or 40 per cent of aninstitution’s non-EU students might comethrough agents, although the figure is higherfor some countries than others.

But what do universities want when itcomes to their international studentprogrammes? What are students looking for?And how can IDP satisfy them?

Each university is individual and will haveits own specific needs, says Griffiths. But twothings jump out.

First, they want students who are a “goodfit”, including academically. Both Durham andExeter stress top academic credentials as theforemost attribute.

“We are attracting exceptionally high-quality students from the UK and so there canbe no reduction in standards for internationalstudents,” explains Sharne Procter, director ofthe international office at Durham, adding thatthe university also looks for students who doextracurricular activities and so will fullyparticipate in its college lifestyle.

“We want agents who can filter potentialapplicants and identify only those who have arealistic chance of being offered a place,” saysShaun Curtis, director of international at Exeter,which is currently expanding its internationalstudent numbers. More applications just meansmore sifting for the institution, which isn’t agood use of time, he adds.

“We want to be sure [our students] can getthrough,” says Heriot-Watt’s Pilcher, addingthat students are investing a great deal of timeand money, and no one want to see them fail.

Second, institutions are also looking fordiversity in their student body, says Griffiths.They want to recruit international studentsacross all programmes and levels from a rangeof countries. Diversity of students is important

for two reasons, she stresses. A good mix ofstudents improves the university experiencefor home students by exposing them todifferent cultures.

But diversity is also a good strategy formanaging risk. From political turmoil toeconomic downturns, there are many factorsthat can influence international studentrecruitment that are beyond a university’scontrol: institutions that don’t recruit widelycould find themselves in trouble if numbersfrom certain countries dwindle.

Unintended consequencesChris Chang is interim director of theacademic services directorate at BrunelUniversity. Brunel has students from 110countries, it recruits in 35 to 40 countries andhas met its own targets for internationalstudents without difficulty for the past fewyears. However, challenges in various parts ofthe world can change things, he says. He citesthe closure of the Tier 1 post-study work visascheme in the UK and the events of the ArabSpring, which have led to a dip in recruitmentof Middle Eastern and South Asian studentsby many UK universities.

Yet the universities are only one side of theequation: students are the other. And whatstudents want is the best institution anddestination for them, along with the best startto their studies, says Harmeet Pental, IDP’sregional director for South Asia who overseesIDP offices in India, Malaysia, Indonesia,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

Typically most will have narrowed downtheir country of choice to one or two, so mostimportant to their decision is the quality of theinstitution, comparability of cost and post-education outcome, including the possibility ofworking in the country afterwards, heobserves. “They are really looking at thesethree items altogether,” he says. Yet thechoices on offer can be overwhelming, henotes, adding that there are multipleopportunities. A 2009 IDP research paper,Buyer Behaviour of Active Prospects, CurrentStudents and Alumni, which reported on asurvey of over 6,000 international students,found that only 32 per cent were happy tochoose a course and apply for a place ontheir own.

“They want – as a first – someone whocan hold their hand and help them arrive ata decision on where would probably be thebest place for them to study,” says Pental.

Support for both sidesIDP’s role is to help both institutions andprospective students. “We take into accountboth what the students are looking for andwhat the institutions need,” explainsPeter Burges, IDP’s regional director forSoutheast Asia, who oversees offices inCambodia, the Philippines, Singapore,Thailand and Vietnam.


An international success Brunel University

First it skilfully pairs the right students tothe right universities, suitable to theiracademic profile.

To do this it uses highly trained counsellorsto advise students on a one-to-one basis abouttheir full range of options. On becomingpartners, IDP and the university work togetherto train the counsellors about the institution,which means they can then present studentswith the most up-to-date and detailedinformation about every aspect, explainsPental. “We work very closely with the

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from budget to “softer” criteria such as theenvironment they want, be it a city or a morerural setting – to create a profile. The systemthen assists in matching them with the rangeof institutions fitting their criteria, delivering aselection of courses that might fit their needs.

Critically, IDP can’t change studentchoices, notes Pental, but it can make morestudents aware of the different programmes.“Students may have their own sense of theoptions but these are typically limited...What the system does is open them up to awhole lot more.”

Information is powerIDP partners can update and enhance theirentries in the OSCAR system. The overallbenefit to institutions is that, rather thanmerely relying on prospective students todiscover their offers through a random onlinesearch, complete and thorough informationreaches them directly through IDP, therebyenabling them to make the best decisions.

The overall benefit to prospective studentsis that they have a knowledgeable counsellorwho can give them a much broader picture,allowing them to make the choice that isright for them. IDP counsellors then followthrough – facilitating English-language testing,helping with course and visa applications andproviding pre-departure support.

“Every agent will promise to deliverstudents that are the right type, but I havenever come across an agent that lives it andbreathes it like IDP does,” says Griffiths.

Moreover, unmatched in its geographicspread, IDP can catapult institutions aheadwhen it comes to increasing their studentdiversity. IDP students come from a widerange of countries and regions, including thosewhere an institution may never previouslyhave done any serious recruitment.

“We have global coverage,” saysGriffiths, adding that the company is alwayson the lookout to expand its source networkfurther still.

For Brunel’s Chang, the partnershipwith IDP adds the opportunity to recruit in

a country such as Cambodia, where theuniversity may not even visit this year.

“IDP will also help us expand our reachin parts of India, Vietnam and the MiddleEast,” Chang adds.

Heriot-Watt has already reaped benefitsfrom its partnership, winning a contract –facilitated by IDP – with the Ministry ofHigher Education in Oman to provideplaces to hundreds of eligible studentsover the next five years.

Attention to detailAn important part of what IDP offers, andrare among agents, stresses Griffiths, is thefact that it will work with partner institutionsto understand their international recruitmentstrategy and which countries they specificallywant to diversify into – even down to the levelof programmes and courses.

For example, explains Pental, if auniversity wants to increase its number ofIndian postgraduate engineering students,IDP has the expertise to help identify riperecruiting grounds in that country. It canthen work with the university to facilitatevisits to its offices in those areas and theinstitutions there.

“The reason why we signed IDP is thatthey were able to demonstrate a bespokeservice,” notes Exeter’s Curtis. “We like tobe reassured that agents understand ourspecific recruitment objectives.”

As part of the package, partnerinstitutions also get access to IDP’s leadingmarket research and to its offices forinterviewing, and they can participate inexhibitions and recruitment fairs run orattended by the company.

It is certainly a relationship that hasbenefited Australian universities, say boththe University of New South Wales’ Voninskiand Sunny Yang, executive director for futurestudents at Monash University. IDP providesthe most international students to theirrespective institutions of any agent – in thecase of UNSW supplying about a quarter ofits total.

“They have a footprint in such a wide rangeof countries and an experience and knowledgeof the market that very few agents can rival,”says Yang.

IDP’s UK partners are particularly pleasedwith the establishment of a UK advisory panel.The idea, explains Griffiths, is to get inputfrom the partners on what IDP itself should beoffering UK institutions. “I have certainlynever been asked to participate in anythinglike it before,” notes Durham’s Procter. “Itdoes feel more like a partnership approach.”

For Griffiths, this is the way it should be.“We understand institutions’ needs and theUK higher education sector,” she says. “Wewant to ensure that we work in partnershipwith our UK clients in order to deliver thebest possible service.”

institutions – face-to-face and online – tomake sure our counsellors become theextended arms of the institution,” he says.

It also employs its own state-of-the-artsystem, the Overseas Student Central AdviceResource (OSCAR). Prior to students’ fullcounselling, this huge database of courseinformation is used to help match students tothe courses and institutions that would suitthem.

Students put in their details – ranging fromgeographic preferences to their qualifications,

Every agent willpromise to deliverstudents that are right,but I have never comeacross an agent thatlives and breathes itlike IDP does

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university courses, giving IDP anedge over its competitors. “It

makes applying much quicker,which is vital when there aredeadlines for applications,”says Ahmed Elsayed, regionalmarketing manager of IDP’s12 offices in the Middle East.

“It takes note of students’current academic scores and

then presents them with the optionsof all the different programmes available

and the entry requirements for each.”For countries like China, though, face-to-

face contact with counsellors is as importantas technology. “Chinese parents regard acounsellor in the same way as a doctor,” saysAllen Jiang, IDP’s regional director for NorthAsia (pictured above). “They don’t want to see


Foreign students used to be considereda bonus by some universities inOrganisation for Economic Cooperation

and Development countries: a useful sourceof additional income in times of governmentcutbacks. Overseas students were expected totake what was already on offer to the indigenouspopulation, regardless of whether or not thosecourses of study fitted their future careers invery different cultures. But in the past decade,there has been a change in outlook.

“It’s a change in the philosophy ofacademic institutions,” says Peter Burges,regional director for Southeast Asia at IDPEducation, the world’s largest placementagency for overseas students. “Many of themhave begun to place greater emphasis on thevalue of internationalisation for itself. Thebalance of their courses has shifted andcourses are now broader, better fitted to aglobal economy.

“Employers often prefer students with amore international outlook and courses arebecoming much less parochial. It is importantthat institutions change, because they areincreasingly competing with the best foreignuniversities for students and income.”

According to the OECD’s report Educationat a Glance 2011, China, India and SouthKorea are the biggest users of internationaltertiary education, with English-speakingcountries as the favoured destinations. In2009, Asian students made up more thanhalf of the 3.7 million foreign studentsenrolled worldwide, in a market growingat a rate of nearly 7 per cent a year.

Asian beginningsIDP has been integral to the expansion ofoverseas study in Asia. The organisationbegan in 1969 as a contribution byAustralia’s universities to internationaleducation and development – the AustralianAsian Universities’ Cooperation Scheme.In the mid-1980s, it began recruitinginternational students, mostly from SoutheastAsia, for Australian universities. It offeredthem counselling in their home countriesand, in 1989, it joined with the British

Council and the University ofCambridge ESOL (English forSpeakers of Other Languages) tolaunch the International EnglishLanguage Testing System(IELTS), currently recognisedby more than 6,000 institutionsin over 135 countries.

Now IDP has entered a globalphase. It has expanded its studentreach in Asia and the Middle East,with 80 offices in 25 countries.

Two years ago, IDP began developingits own state-of-the-art database and searchengine, the Overseas Student Central AdviceResource (OSCAR). This technology, whichwas implemented across IDP’s network inJuly 2011, greatly increases the speed andaccuracy of matching students to overseas

Lookingfurther afield

As universities placemore emphasis oninternationalisation,overseas students arenow vital componentsof their intake, saysTony Wilkinson

In India, English is the languageof tuition in tertiary education.More than 80 per cent of IDP’splacements are for postgraduateprogrammes, mostly to studyengineering, business orcomputer sciences. “There isvery little pressure on Indianstudents to travel to othercountries for their first degrees,”says Harmeet Pental, IDP’s regionaldirector for South Asia (pictured right).“Undergraduate education overseas is veryexpensive and there are a lot of optionsavailable locally. Families keep money asidefor their children’s master’s degrees becausethis level of education is seen as critical to asuccessful career and recognition in society.”

IDP has 15 offices in India, each typicallywith six to eight counsellors who are trainedand certified for different study destinations.“It is vital to have face-to-face contact withstudents,” says Pental. “Culturally, studentsfeel more comfortable talking things throughwith a counsellor and also there are manydocuments to be verified. A key part of theprocess is for the IDP counsellor to seeoriginals and attest documents such as astudent’s examination certificates. Document

fraud is a risk. As a recent Australiangovernment report said, some agents are soletraders with not much more than a catchytitle, a string of promises and a mobile phone.As the same report noted, IDP is at the otherend of the spectrum. Our reputation forensuring best outcomes for students and thethoroughness with which we represent all ourpartner institutions is our great strength.”

IDP has seven offices in China, a countrythat supplies 18 per cent of the world’sinternational students. Undergraduate coursesin prestigious overseas universities are themain priority, but there is an increasingmarket for postgraduate studies. “We targetmostly middle- to upper-class families,”says Jiang. “Only they can afford to payfor three- to four-year degree courses. Theaverage income in China is still very low,

The real value weadd to studentapplications is ourpersonal counselling.We talk them throughtheir aspirations

a doctor only looking at computers or textbookswhen making a diagnosis. They want ourcounsellors to have the knowledge they want.”

IDP’s co-ownership of IELTS makes itsoffices worldwide one-stop shops for studentswanting to study internationally. IELTS isthe world’s most popular high-stakes Englishlanguage test, with 1.6 million tests takenin 2011. It has become the acknowledgedglobal standard as a “real-world” test forcompetence in English. Results are gradedin bands from one (non-user) to nine (expertuser). Within each overall score is a scorefor reading, writing, listening and speaking.Band seven represents a good user with anoperational command of the language,although with occasional “inaccuracies,inappropriacies and misunderstandings”in some situations.


IDP

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N but things have been improvingrapidly over the past 10 years.

This year we placed around4,000 Chinese students andanother 2,000 from HongKong, Taiwan and Korea.”

“Historically, UKuniversities have done well,”

says Jiang. “However, the oldmethods of marketing, such as

local government exhibitions andseminars, are no longer as effective as they

were. The internet is growing so radicallythat all universities that want to attract Asianstudents need to build their brands online.That is where we can help. Three years ago,about 30 per cent of our effort went intointernet campaigns. Now it is approaching50 per cent.”

Strong links to UKFirst degrees at UK universities feature stronglyin the preferences of students from Malaysiaand Hong Kong. “Hong Kong schooling hasbeen based on the UK system of education,”says Jiang. “The students often choose to studyarts, science, medicine and engineering.”South Korea, in contrast, mostly sees overseasstudy as an opportunity to learn English. ManyKorean students take short-term English-language programmes at prestigious Americanuniversities as a foundation for further studies.A few also take humanities and sciencedegrees. Taiwanese students have the widestrange of preferred subjects, from medicine,music, art and design to business, commerceand finance. As with Korea, the US is apreferred destination, but UK universitiesfeaturing in THE World University Rankingsare also sought after. “Throughout North Asia itis an issue of family prestige to send your kidsto institutions with high rankings,” says Jiang.

“The real value we add to studentapplications is our personal counselling,”says Elsayed. “We talk them through theiraspirations for their careers, their ambitionsin life. We find out what kind of socialsettings they prefer to live in. We apply onbehalf of the student and track the progressof their application. When payment isrequired, we make sure the money is senton time and that their place is reserved.

“IDP services offer great value toeducational institutions in study destinations.The personal approach that we apply ensuresthat students are well matched to institutionsand programmes. As we spend time witheach student to understand his or her needs,background and qualifications, we enhancethe quality of applications submitted toinstitutions and, hence, make applicationprocessing more efficient. A well-matchedstudent is more likely to complete his or heracademic course successfully, which is animportant key performance indicator for anyeducational institution.”

Positive interactionIDP’s counselling, aswell as its use of theInternational EnglishLanguage TestingSystem, ensures thatstudents will fit in oncethey get to theircampus of choice

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