Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
14th Nov 2014

Five for Friday

For this instalment in our occasional “Five for Friday” column, we have gathered below some of the more eye-catching and varied items that we’ve been reading lately. We present them here for your end-of-week reading pleasure.

When admissions becomes marketing

This post from College Admissions Today has been nagging at us for a little while now. It makes the interesting point that admissions staff are now often asked to play a more direct role with respect to marketing and recruitment, and raises some interesting questions about how this impacts workloads and focus in the admissions office.

Is Japan going to hit its target?

Japan aims to attract 300,000 foreign students by 2020. The good news: there is just one thing standing in its way. The bad news: that one thing is China. The Japan Times reports on how China’s efforts to attract greater numbers of international students are drawing market share from Japan.

Saudi Arabia tops the first ranking of Arab universities

Saudi Arabia owns the top three positions in an initial ranking of 91 Arab universities in 16 countries published recently by US News & World Report. The rankings are notably concentrated: the top seven countries counted 77 universities in the table (85% of the total), while seven other countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen - had only one ranked university each.

Pearson launches new English test

Education giant Pearson and the online language learning platform busuu have partnered for the global launch of a new English proficiency exam: the Global Scale of English Test (GSET). busuu is the first company worldwide to offer the test, on exclusive terms with Pearson for an initial six-month period.

We’ve looked at Facebook from all sides now

Social marketing specialist Brian Carter offers an unvarnished view of Facebook: the good, the bad, and the ugly. In this nicely balanced post, he offers a compact summary of the challenges - and strengths - of this key social media platform.

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Because you found this article interesting

Australia orders a year-long pause on new VET and ELICOS provider registrations In a legislative instrument dated 18 May 2025, Australia’s Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill has ordered...
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New Zealand reports solid foreign enrolment growth for 2025 New Zealand’s international student population grew by +11% last year, bringing it to 80% of its pre-COVID high...
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US immigration officials allege OPT is being widely abused and say “more actions are forthcoming” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified its scrutiny of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) post-study work...
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New IDP research shows link between visa uncertainty and the perceived ROI of study abroad New IDP Emerging Futures research reveals that visa concerns are now influencing international students’ decision-making earlier than in...
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Universities urged to focus on “factors they can control” as policy settings depress international student enrolments in the Big Four Through the first quarter of 2026, restrictive immigration settings in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US continued...
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Survey finds “growing pressure” on youth group travel to UK this year Findings from a February-March 2026 pulse survey conducted by the British Educational Travel Association (BETA) highlight “growing pressure”...
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Malta: Non-EU students keeping ELT weeks stable in the face of falling enrolment from Europe Data from Malta’s National Statistics Office shows that the characteristics of Malta’s English Language Teaching (ELT) sector are...
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UK to rejoin Erasmus+ in 2027 The UK will rejoin the Erasmus+ mobility programme in 2027 for an initial one-year term. This will end...
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