A new cross-sectoral survey of New Zealand institutions active in the international education market provides a snapshot of an industry that has a very established K-12 international offer, strong reliance on China across the board, a concensus that South Korea is declining as a source region and an appetite for expansion.
The detailed Industry Survey 2013 of 464 institutions also uncovered strong interest in offering New Zealand training and qualifications offshore and a desire for enhanced marketing support.
Education New Zealand (ENZ), which conducted the survey for the second time this year, confirmed that extensive market research has shown that awareness of New Zealand as a high quality study destination is generally very low in key offshore markets.
A “new and exciting” student brand is being unveiled at the NZIEC taking place next week.
Almost 30% said they had plans to offering training or qualifications to international students based offshore
Survey results show that China continues to be the strongest source for students in all sectors but that overall numbers from South Korea have declined, especially for K-12 providers. To offset the drop, Vietnam and Thailand were flagged as new markets where institutions will commence marking and recruitment in the next 24 months.
Providers had a clear appetite to “increase significantly” international student numbers in the future, most noted among institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITP) and universities. Among university respondents, 46% reported enrolling more than 1,000 international students, however 62% said that is a number they aspire to reach.
In terms of offshore delivery, only 15% of respondents, led by universities, reported having students enrolled at their institution but based abroad.
Almost 30% said they had plans to offering training or qualifications to international students based offshore with strongest intent from from universities, ITPs and private training establishments (PTE).
In order to see further growth, providers feel there needs to be more marking of New Zealand as a study destination offshore over immigrations regulation removal or additional funding resources.
ENZ will use the industry survey findings to inform its business plans and strategic priorities for subsequent financial years (2014/15).
To boost its marketing and brand recognition overseas, digital marketing campaigns will be conducted in key offshore markets to promote New Zealand’s international education industry.
Development of a channels strategy to improve the knowledge and outcomes from international agents and harnessing the power of New Zealand alumni are also among the plans.