International recruitment: A Temperamental Market
Posted on September 19, 2018 by Gary O'Connor
Each year, approximately 750,000 students come to the UK from abroad to study Higher and Further Education courses. For many Universities, getting these international students to apply to their courses can be a difficult task. Here we focus on some key stats from the international student market along with external factors Universities are facing when planning international student recruitment campaigns.
Unlike UK based campaigns, University marketing departments must put more effort into planning their international campaigns. How much budget to spend, what digital platforms to use and where to target are all key elements for these campaigns but most important is defining a realistic ROI for these campaigns.
Yes, we can reach international students via social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc) but the journey for an international student to apply for a course comes with a lot more obstacles then your typical UK student.
Brexit is having an impact on international students committing to study in the UK. The uncertainty of the impact it will have once the UK officially leave the EU in March 2019 means students overseas are looking at alternative locations to the UK where other countries have a clear stance on their policies of welcoming international students.
With Universities currently advising the government to consider making the post study visa more attractable for international students there a lot of factors left in the grey area whilst Brexit negotiations continue to take place.
It might be no surprise that the UK has now fallen to third in the country’s most popular for international students. Australia have now overtaken the UK and according to experts the gap set by the USA and Australia compared to other countries will continue to get bigger in the coming years due to the unclear impact Brexit will have on the UK.
According to the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA), China and Malaysia are the most represented non-EU countries of students studying in the UK. Germany and France are most represented from the EU sector. Business and Administrative courses are the most popular courses international students choose to study in the UK with 121,000. Engineering & Technology courses follows second with 52,000.
Universities need to initiate SMART goals when implementing digital marketing campaigns to make sure they’re targeting the right people with the right messages on the best platforms
Get in touch with us here at Educate to get a free consultation on how we can hep you achieve your objectives when it comes to engaging with international students
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