International Recruitment and Conversion 18 May 2017 Patrick Whitfield Commercial Director UK & Europe
Who are Hobsons? 1000+ universities use our CRM 2m+ prospective students managed on behalf of universities in 2016 62,000+ respondents to 2017 International Student Survey www.internationalstudentsurvey.com
Agenda 1. Political impact 2. How do international students decide where to study? 3. Inside the international student journey 4. Growing importance of social media and instant messaging 5. Power of word of mouth
How can you be predictable in an unpredictable world? Within your control Outside your control Brand Political Product Economic Strategy Social Structure and systems Technological Execution Legal Fix or Optimise Exploit or Mitigate
POLITICAL IMPACT ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RECRUITMENT
Political impact 1 April 2012: Tier 1 Post Study Work Visa abolished
The result?
Political impact 2 June 2016: BREXIT UK votes to leave the European Union
Has the UK's decision to leave the EU affected your interest in studying in the UK as an international student? Percentage of respondents It has made no difference to how 68.5% interested I am in studying in the UK It has made me less interested in 12.7% studying in the UK It has made me more interested in 11.3% studying in the UK I don't know 7.4%
Political impact 3 January 2017: President Trump signs executive order banning entry to the US from 7 majority-Muslim countries
What happens next? Does this Executive Order affect your plans to study in the United States? Percentage of respondents, question asked to nationalities not directly affected by the travel ban (e.g. not the six restricted Muslim-majority countries) 52.4% 35.7% 11.9% Yes No Unsure
Do campaigns like #WeAreInternational and #LondonIsOpen persuade you that the UK is welcoming to international students? Percentage of respondents Yes - They fully persuade me that the UK is 46.6% welcoming to international students Yes - They slightly persuade me that the UK is 37.2% welcoming to international students No - They dont pursuade me that the UK is 16.2% welcoming to international students
HOW DO INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS DECIDE WHERE TO STUDY?
In what order do you consider the following? Overall rank and rank score* by item 1 The subject I want to study 55,372 38,192 2 The country I want to study in 3 The university I want to study at 35,263 • Rank score is an aggregate score calculated from all rankings; a higher score indicates that an item was generally ranked higher compared to alternative options.
What five things are most important to you when choosing a country? Percentage of times each item was ranked 1 to 5, where 1 is most important 1 2 3 4 5 It has universities with high quality teaching 26.7% 22.1% 19.9% 17.0% 14.4% It is welcoming to international students 23.3% 20.0% 19.6% 19.3% 17.8% I can get a visa to study there 21.0% 21.9% 19.3% 19.0% 18.8% It has an affordable cost of living 20.0% 21.2% 20.7% 19.7% 18.4% It has well-ranked universities 19.6% 20.9% 19.7% 20.4% 19.5% I have friends or family living there 19.2% 17.3% 16.5% 20.1% 26.9% The lifestyle appeals to me 19.1% 17.2% 18.0% 20.6% 25.1% It has a good reputation as a place to study 18.3% 20.6% 21.7% 20.1% 19.4% I can get a visa to work after graduating 16.6% 19.2% 19.2% 21.5% 23.6% It was recommended to me 13.2% 14.8% 17.5% 20.7% 33.7% It has good graduate employment options 11.6% 16.7% 20.5% 24.3% 26.9%
What five things are most important to you when choosing a town or city? Percentage of times each item was ranked 1 to 5, where 1 is most important 1 2 3 4 5 It is a safe and welcoming place for international students 31.5% 21.3% 18.7% 16.5% 12.1% It has universities with high quality teaching 24.8% 22.0% 19.4% 18.3% 15.5% I have friends or family living there 20.2% 16.8% 16.8% 19.7% 26.5% It has well-ranked universities 19.1% 21.0% 19.4% 19.3% 21.2% I can work while studying 17.7% 20.8% 21.0% 20.5% 20.0% It has affordable private accommodation 16.3% 20.2% 20.9% 21.4% 21.2% It has a good reputation as a place to study 15.9% 20.2% 21.4% 21.8% 20.7% It has good lifestyle and leisure opportunities 14.8% 18.1% 20.0% 21.7% 25.5% I can get a visa to work there after I graduate 14.5% 18.2% 19.1% 22.1% 26.1% It was recommended to me 13.8% 13.0% 17.6% 20.1% 35.5% I will have access to my preferred employers 11.8% 17.4% 20.1% 22.8% 27.9%
Which of the following are you more likely to choose? Percentage choosing each item as their preferred option 80% A university with excellent teaching quality A university with high rankings 20%
INSIDE THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT JOURNEY
50% expect to know the outcome of their application within 3 days of submission or sooner
GROWING IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND INSTANT MESSAGING
POWER OF WORD OF MOUTH
Do you have any friends or family that have previously or are currently studying as an international student? 56.5% 60% 50% 40% 76% have a friend and/or 30% 24% 23.6% family member(s) 20% 14.8% that is/has studied as an international 10% 4.6% student 0%
Has the experience of your friend(s) and/or family influenced your choice of country, city, university or course? 60% 48% 50% 40% 31.2% 69% 27.8% 30% 23.9% say the experience 20% 14.4% of friends and family has 10% influenced their 0% choices
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations 1. Focus resources on what you can control while gathering data on what you can’t 2. Play to your strengths in teaching quality 3. Emphasise your happy customers 4. Be equipped to manage a lengthy student journey 5. Invest in a broad social reach 6. Download www.internationalstudentsurvey.com
Thank you QUESTIONS? Download www.internationalstudentsurvey.com
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