eaie conference international student decision making

May 1, 2023 Slide 1

International Student SurveyWhat do

international students value?

How do they want to be

communicated with?

What makes them choose one university over another?

What’s the role of social media and

new technologies?

When do they start thinking

about university?

Who influences

their decision making?

May 1, 2023 Slide 3

Slide 4

What we knew….When thinking about study abroad

Uni > Subject > Country

Country > Uni > Subject

Country > Subject > Uni

Subject > Uni > Country

Subject > Country > Uni

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

In what order did you choose

Slide 5

Distance from home country

Ability to get permanent residency

Job prospects / migration to destination country

Exposure to culture / life in destination country

Ability to work whilst studying

Other

Post study work options

Job prospects in home country post-university

Ease of getting visa to study

Safety of destination countryCountry’s attitude to international students

International recognition of qualifications

Quality of education compared to home country

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

What’s important to you in regards to country?

What we knew…When thinking about study abroad

Slide 6

What we knew….What are they looking for?

Slide 7

What we knew…How quickly should you respond?

A short reply via email in a week

A detailed reply via phone in 3 days

A short reply via phone in 24 hours

A detailed reply via email in a week

A short reply via email in 24 hours

A detailed reply via email in 3 days

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

How responsive do you expect?

Students expect a quick response

Slide 8

What we knew…The big decision – what’s important?

Diversity / mix of international students

Other

Ease of getting permanent residency after studying

Safety of campus / local area

Recommendations

Campus Location

Entry Requirements

Teaching Quality

Subjects available to study

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

What’s important when deciding between institutions?

If they have applied your

quality is good enough, but

are you better than others?

Slide 9

What we knew…How much competition?

If students apply to multiple

universities, they are enquiring to

even more1

24%

216%

316%

410%

524%

Over 59%

How many institutions did you / do you plan to apply to?

Slide 10

Tweetable takeaways @kiwimariec @hobsonsemea #EAIE2015

40% of #international #students say subject is their first consideration

#international #students expect responses within 24 hours

45% #international #students apply to 4 or more unis

May 1, 2023

• What age do they start looking?• Where else are they looking and is this

changing?• If communications are so important which

channels should we be using and for what?• If league tables are so important which ones and

are there any regional differences?

Slide 11

What you told us you wanted to know

May 1, 2023 Slide 12

2015 Survey

When do they start thinking about university?

45% are thinking about university before the age of 16.

USA

Canada

Australia

Germany

Ireland

Other EU country

France

Sweden

New Zealand

Singapore

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Which overseas countries are/were you considering attending university in?

Germany 2014: 12%

N: 6,392

What we knew…where else are they looking?

May 1, 2023 Slide 15

Where else to they go?

Final destination of UK prospects

Primary reason for not studying in the UK at 36% was the lack of a PSW visa in the UK.

May 1, 2023 Slide 16

Frequency of communicationsHow often do you want to be contacted at each stage of your

application process?

58% of students want to be able to use social media to contact universities directly.

How do they want to be communicated with?

89% of Indian students use

WhatsApp every day

77% of Chinese students use WeChat

every day57% of Chinese

students use Weibo every day

63% use social media find official facts and figures about universities

72% of use social media to find out unofficial opinions about universities

May 1, 2023 Slide 18

Which league tables?

May 1, 2023

@kiwimariec @hobsonsemea #EAIE2015

45% #international #students thinking about university before the age of 16Germany a rising competitor for #international #students 36% #international #students put off UK #PSW

Slide 19

Tweetable takeways

May 1, 2023

Want more information?

Contact me marie.clark@hobsons.com

Come over and say hi at booth 109 and collect your copy

Give me your card and I’ll send you an electronic link

Slide 20