Sponsored by M Square Media

Speakers
Dr Chris Busch, Associate Vice President, Enrolment & International, University of Windsor
Johanna Lahti, Coordinator, LUT University
Akos Kiraly, Head of Sales, SRH Higher Education
Moderator: Hersha Pandya, Executive Director, Partner Relations UK and Europe, M Square Media

Description 
Successful international enrollment management professionals need a strategy to understand and prioritize the roles of the institution, recruitment agents, and aggregator services. These partnerships thrive under mutually beneficial terms because the third-party is interviewing the institution just as much as the institution is vetting strategic partners.

In this session, participants will examine the nature of international recruitment partnerships to better understand the changing power-dynamic among stakeholders. The traditional roles of the institution, agents, and third-party service providers will be explored, as well as a shift in the balance of who is selecting whom as a partner. Successful recruitment is not achieved solely through prestige, commissions, and market presence. Participants will learn about the metrics necessary to identify a strong working relationship that yield both volume and student success.

Speakers
Alejandra Otero, Founder & CEO, NEO Academy
Jodie Kilian, Managing Director, ISIC Australia & New Zealand
Jimmy Battaglia - ApplyBoard
Moderator: Ross Holmes, Executive Director - Digital Services, ICEF

Description
Digital recruitment requires a digital identity. What needs to happen in order to deliver an effective digital student ID? One that works across borders, at every level of study, and is trusted.

This session brings together speakers with viewpoints from across the student journey.

Speaker
Saeed Adam, Director of MENA & Turkey, Malvern House International Limited

Description 
This seminar will look at anti-racist actions both agents and educators should take in promoting diversity and inclusion and the creation of a safe and welcoming environment for students in the U.K.

This seminar will give some practical points where both agents and educators can inform and educate students about the diversity of the UK and the multiculturalism that makes the U.K. the top destination for international students.

Speakers
Craig Riggs, ICEF Monitor - Editor in Chief, ICEF
Amy Baker, CEO, The PIE
Moderator: Martijn van de Veen, VP, Business Development, ICEF

Description 
Geopolitical conflict, pandemic, oil prices and inflation: our industry is not immune to the turmoil that is coming at us from so many angles. But how exactly are these events shaking up the international education sector, and which consequences will have a lasting effect?

Speakers
Vanessa Goulding, Business Development Manager, ICEF
Dr Carmen Neghina, Deputy Director Analytics and Consulting Team, Studyportals

Description
ICEF Agent Voice is a bi-annual survey of ICEF-screened agents from over 100 countries. It is unique in its frequency, reach, and level of detail – comparing perspectives of agents around the world and gaining fresh insights into how they are adapting and responding to global issues and challenges. In this session, ICEF Agent Voice will be complemented with data from Studyportals looking at the behavioural data of prospective students, presenting the cumulative results from our combined 2022 surveys. This includes a year-on-year comparison of the attractiveness of international study destinations as perceived by agents recruiting for a wide range of international study programmes. Additional aspects covered include:

- Where agents plan to send students in 2023 and beyond
- What agents see as the most effective marketing strategies
- What institutions need to provide in terms of support for their agents

Studyportals will share the perspective of over 52 million prospective students annually using their platforms to mark shifts in student destination preferences, identify which subjects are growing the fastest, and the countries where the appetite for international education is growing. The survey findings will help educators to build their reputation and relationships with agents and will also assist them in developing strategies to market themselves and their destinations more effectively. The Studyportals perspective will also complement ICEF Agent Voice findings with additional insights on digitally minded students.

Sponsored by PSI / Skills for English

Speakers
Intro: Andy Harrison, Recognition & Business Development Manager, Skills for English & Craig Riggs, ICEF Monitor - Editor in Chief, ICEF
Panellists: Justin Quinn, CEO, Centre of English Studies Ltd.
Paolo Barilari, Owner, Lingue nel Mondo
Alice Wilby, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University College Birmingham
Joy Musa, Director of International Recruitment, QAHE (ULST) LTD
Sonia Dhawan, Managing Director, Grey Matters Education & Immigration Services LLP.
Moderator: Henry Tolley, Vice President, Skills for English

Description
We've had decades of growth in international student mobility. Then the profound disruption of a global pandemic, the realities of Brexit and the current economic crisis. What do we need for 2023 and beyond? The focus across our industry is on recovery and rebuilding enrolments.

In the midst of all that, it is clear that agents will play an even larger role in recruitment. But how is the role of the education agent changing? That is the central question for this featured panel as we put the focus on the agent's perspective on the current landscape for student marketing, to explore:

- How are agents working with partner institutions and language schools today?
- What are now the most important channels and strategies for agents in their outreach to students?
- What is next for education agents and what are the biggest factors that will continue to shape the agency business over the rest of this decade?