Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
1st Mar 2012

Why students use agents and other insights for 2012

ICEF led a presentation at the Languages Canada conference, held recently in Vancouver, providing the audience with an insightful overview of current research and best practices for working with education agents. The session provided a country-specific overview of why students use agents, what students in each country look for when choosing where to study overseas, and how educators can work most effectively with education agents. In addition, the presenters explained the reasons for the variations in each country surveyed and offered practical suggestions for a country-by-country strategy. This wide-ranging presentation contains a wealth of current research and best practices on working with agents, brought to you by three members of our ICEF Americas team. We are pleased to present the entire slide deck below.

Why Students Use Agents - Demand and Supply

This British Council report compares the differing levels in which students around the world are and are not using agents, and the reasons students turn to agents. The information presented is based on a survey of 131,000 students over a five-year period. The report in its entirety includes sections on the likelihood of students using agents if they had previously studied overseas, if the subject area affects the use of an agent, if the stage of the buying process increases or decreases the use of agents and if there is a need based on destination country.

The i-graduate ICEF Agent Barometer 2011

As reported in a previous post, this is a survey of 737 agents, with their thoughts on study destinations, what they are looking for in an educator, and what their expectations and concerns are for 2012. Results reveal what students in each country look for when choosing where to study overseas, as well as what courses and destinations are most popular, by country.

How to work with agents

The presentation wraps up with a look at key issues in how educators can work most effectively with education agents – finding, approaching, contracting, incentivising, motivating and supporting agents.

Most Recent

  • Mystery shopping study finds broad improvement in student enquiry handling this year Read More
  • South Korea hits its 300,000 student target two years ahead of schedule Read More
  • Canada: Study permit numbers are in steep decline in 2025 Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

Mystery shopping study finds broad improvement in student enquiry handling this year The results are out for Edified’s annual Enquiry Experience Tracker study, and they reflect the best overall performance...
Read more
South Korea hits its 300,000 student target two years ahead of schedule In 2023, the South Korean government announced a plan to attract 300,000 international students by 2027: 220,000 in...
Read more
Canada: Study permit numbers are in steep decline in 2025 In 2024, the first year under Canada’s current cap on new international student enrolments, the total number of...
Read more
UK confirms levy on international student fees as new analysis argues that government is “drastically underestimating” the impact of the move Updated for 30 September 2025: On 29 September, the Department of Education announced that it would reinstate “means-tested...
Read more
US administration’s new H-1B policies create uncertainty around post-study work rights The H-1B programme is a key policy mechanism for international students in the United States. Aside from the...
Read more
China leverages higher education capacity with expanded TNE partnerships As with most statistics about China, the latest higher education figures are a little dizzying. Enrolment in the...
Read more
France reports more than 443,000 international students in higher education for 2024/25 The latest data release from Campus France reports a record-high foreign enrolment in the country. There were 443,500...
Read more
Foreign enrolment in Canadian K-12 held steady in 2024/25 International student enrolment in public school boards in Canada declined marginally this year. The latest data from the...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links