• Appetite for international education remains strong, with significant growth projected in the “big four” destination countries, as well as the UAE, Germany, and the Netherlands
• Factors such as cost of living and accommodation top student decision making, while traditional concerns, such as an institution’s ranking, are now perceived to be far less important
• With universities promoting career opportunities directly, as a sales point, and indirectly, through their study programmes; students and their support network are increasingly focused on employability
• Agents face a range of challenges, from sourcing qualified leads in the first instance, to the support they receive from their partner institutions in terms of training, speed of response, and visa support
• Despite an overall industry trend towards online programmes, agents have reported a slight drop in interest from 2022 to 2023
• Agents overwhelmingly continue to follow traditional recruitment methods, with take up of digital methods and AI remaining slow
