What is the data telling us about international student recruitment?

1. What is the data telling us about international student recruitment? AARON PORTER Director of Insights aaron.porter@hotcourses.com @AaronPorter

2. Agenda Geopolitical changes over the last 2 years have shaken up the global student market. What has happened? How can Insights shape your international recruitment strategy? Topics for discussion Introducing Insights TEF – early signs Understanding Brexit Trump, travel ban, Trudeau International Student Survey

3. Introducing Insights

4. Why is data so important? Creates understanding of the sector allowing better decision making and increased efficiency and effectiveness Identify opportunities: New geographical markets, new target audiences. Identify threats: Competitors, declining demand, new modes of study

5. Making sense of big data We now live in a world of big data and the Higher Education sector has as significant amounts of data. • External data • HESA • UCAS • Hotcourses Group Insights • Internal data • Enquiries • Applicants • Enrolments

6. Using the right data at the right time STUDENT RESEARCH (Hotcourses, Google Analytics etc.) DEMOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONS (Population, wealth, mobility etc.) PRE-HE ATTAINMENT (Schools, K12 data) ENQUIRY & APPLICATION (Internal, National systems eg. UCAS) GRADUATION (Completion, DLHE etc.) ENROLLMENT (Student Records Systems, HESA etc.)

7. Insights Data Our Insights tool uses the data from our 69 million visitors to identify real-time student behaviour, demographics, trends and market demand. Show the impact of BREXIT on student searches in real-time What impact is TEF having on student demand now? What courses are popular this year and with whom? Which second tier Indian cities is my university popular in? Which areas of the UK are my competitors recruiting students from? When are students starting their university searches? Provides access to a unique data source (a larger sample than UCAS) which is real-time and is searchable by key indicators such as: subject, location, socio-economic background, competitor institution.

8. Real time Insights Tool Domestic Tool Performance Tool International Tool 69m global users across the Hotcourses sites

9. TEF early signs

10. TEF – Wonkhe analysis Wonkhe’s David Kernohan analysis of UK prospective student interest in TEF. IS TEF MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

11. TEF – early signs

12. TEF impact – who cares? Searches from UK and India for TEF ranked institutions (% change) July – Oct 2016 vs July – Oct 2017 UK India UK India UK India

13. Understanding Brexit

14. Brexit impact - EU demand One year on from the EU Referendum, how can we quantify the impact of the leave vote? UCAS EU applications dropped by 5%

15. Smaller slice, larger pie UK market share of searches may be down, but volumes are up…

16. EU funding announcement How much impact did the UK government’s EU funding announcement have on search trends?

17. EU funding, offsets UK decline Impact of UK gov EU funding announcement on study European student searches.

18. Trump, travel ban, Trudeau

19. Trump effect on Middle East How has the US Presidential vote impacted Middle Eastern study choices?

20. Trump’s travel ban - Iran How did Trump’s travel ban impact Iranian study choices? Executive Order 13769

21. India – the Canada story Canada success story is prominent in Indian searches. The UK also fares well.

22. Trend Spotting (India over time) JUL 15 - JAN 16 - DEC 15 JUN 16 JUL 16 - JAN 17 - DEC 16 JUN 17 Source: Hotcourses

23. India – the Canada story Canada has jumped from 5th most popular to the most popular study destination. Demand from India for destinations (market share) 12 months prior to and after 1 Nov 2017

24. India – regional diversification Regional shifts in India are occurring. Delhi in particular has seen big drops. 2016-17 2015-16

25. International student survey

26. Survey of our users What are the key issues influencing prospective international students? Total responses – 1,964 Key findings: Most international students consider university as the No.1 factor when planning to study abroad (39%), followed by course (37%) and country (24%) However in Indonesia and Brazil, course was the number factor. Topic issues for international students when choosing a university (most important, 4 or 5/5): • Career prospects/Graduate outcomes 86.3% • Cost of study (e.g. tuition fees, living costs) 85.9% • Security/Safety 85.7% • Scholarship options 85.1% • Academic strength/Teaching quality 84.6% • Student welfare (apart from HC Russia) 77.1% • Top faculties/Subject areas/Courses (apart from HC Thailand) 75.7% • Admissions/Entry requirements/English language requirements 70.8%

27. Build content around students Teaching/Provision

28. Survey - Key takeaways Institution is most important. You need to think about how you are getting your brand out there. Politics matters, but it’s not insurmountable. Whether you’re governed by Trump or Trudeau get your positive message across. Course content is important. Need to provide in-depth course information. Keep your course portfolio under review. An important gateway for student choice.

29. Conclusion – the world has changed Real-time data is essential given the pace of change. UCAS, HESA etc cannot be used for agile destination and individual uni marketing anymore. TAKE OUTS FROM TODAY More competitive, volatile market, new players Despite this, pockets of opportunity to be found at regional level Students more aware and receptive to macroeconomic factors than ever with internet, social media Real-time data combined with prospective student surveys needed to react to rapidly changing demand

30. Thank you Insights@hotcoursesgroup.comaaron.porter@hotcourses.com @HotcoursesGroup