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  • International photo round-up 

  • Study abroad promo in US

    Study Abroad Month, led by our Washington DC-based team, targeted the study advisors at United States universities, who support students with their study abroad plans. A series of videos were published each week and sent to key contacts, including a closing video from Education Minister Chris Hipkins. 

    Lewis Gibson, Field Director North America at Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao, says study abroad students are our main source of international students from the US.  

    “Pre-Covid-19, around 350,000 tertiary students each year spent a semester overseas as part of their degree. We’re looking to increase our share of this group. 

    “In normal times, US institutions and study abroad advisors rely on the voices of New Zealand alumni, who can share their experiences with other people on campus and build interest in a New Zealand study experience,” he says. 

    “We needed to do something different this year, because our borders had been closed so there weren’t the alumni students available on campus. We also needed a good way to remind study advisors about New Zealand’s unique education offering.”  

    Lewis says feedback from institutions in the US has been very positive, and they are looking forward to seeing students travel again to New Zealand. Some of the comments received included the following: 

    • “Thank you so much for letting us know about this exciting project! I just shared the New Zealand Study Abroad Month YouTube channel with our spring 2023 applicants... We are thrilled to nominate over 15 students to our outstanding partner universities in New Zealand ...for the first time in over two years!”  

    • “Thank you for sharing this information. I watched Fiona’s video for VUW and I am sharing it with several students who are deciding which NZ institution to attend for Term 1 via TEAN.  I’ll be certain to watch future videos and do the same with those.”   
    • “We are so grateful of the opportunities you provide our students, and our tight partnership together.”  

    “In case anyone is wondering, we initially intended to run the promotion for four weeks, hence the name, ‘Study Abroad Month’. But with the participation of so many universities, and the inclusion of additional videos reflecting the voices of students, it made more sense to expand the promotion to six weeks.”  

    Before our borders closed, the US was our sixth largest source of international students, with most students seeking to enrol in university-level study here. Study Abroad Month aimed to attract students to New Zealand from the US spring semester 2023 onwards. 

  • Appreciating our education agents in Japan

    JAOS stands for Japan Association of Overseas Studies and is a peak body for Japanese education agents. JAOS President Yukari Kato, Councillor Chairman Yasuo Sone, and Executive Secretary Tatsuo Hoshino and other members attended the event, which was hosted by Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) in partnership with the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo and Air New Zealand.   

    New Zealand’s Ambassador to Japan, Hamish Cooper, said education had played a key role in bilateral relations between Japan and New Zealand over the past 70 years, and this was highlighted in the successful visit by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier this year.  

    Yukari Kato, who is also Executive Vice President of Ryugaku Journal,spoke fondly about her experiences living in New Zealand. She also welcomed the opportunity to work with ENZ to feature sustainability-related courses and degrees offered by New Zealand tertiary institutions in Ryugaku Journal Magazine’s September issue.   

    Misa Kitaoka, ENZ’s Director of Education based in Tokyo, says this event will be followed by a series of networking events in October 2022, to build on the positive brand that New Zealand has in Japan and connect Japanese stakeholders with New Zealand regions and education providers.   

    Prior to Covid-19, JAOS members sent around 6,000 students to New Zealand each year, mostly to secondary schools, followed by English language schools.  

  • Courtney Davies

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  • Nelson welcome

  • Why country preference matters for international student experience

    The 2025 International Student Experience Survey has recently closed.  Many thanks to all providers who encouraged participation from their current or recent students. 

    As we grow our timeseries we aim to look below the topline findings for additional nuggets of information.  For example, in our analysis of the 2024 International Student Experience Survey we looked at how a first-choice preference of study destination may impact eventual student experience.  

    Summary of findings 

    • 78% of international students currently or recently studying with a New Zealand provider reported that New Zealand was their number one choice of study destination. 
    • Of the 22% of respondents for whom New Zealand was not their first choice, Australia was most preferred (32%), followed by the USA (17%), Canada (15%), and the UK (14%).
    • The most common reasons people gave for selecting a country other than New Zealand as their first choice of study destination was that their preferred country has ‘a good standard of living/is a developed country’ (26%), good institutions/education providers (24%), ‘a high quality of education’ (23%), and ‘good employment opportunities’ (23%).
    • Country preference matters for student experience: Overall, experience scores were higher for those who reported that New Zealand was their first-choice destination for international education (median score 8 out of 10) compared to those for whom New Zealand was not their first choice (median score 7 out of 10). This effect persisted controlling for age, gender, subsector, and home country.

    ENZ’s Director of Insights, Marie Clark, says that her team will be looking to focus on more of these sorts of insights for the coming year.

    “With global policy changes impacting student decision making around country preference, it is important to understand how this might flow on to influence student experience and, even more importantly, actions providers can take to improve the experience of students for whom New Zealand may not have been the first choice for a study destination,” Marie says. 

    Recommendations for education providers to ensure a positive student experience

    Irrespective of whether New Zealand is a prospective or current international student’s preferred study destination, education providers can take the following actions before and during the student application phase and after enrolment to ensure a positive overall student experience. 

    Prospective decision-making phase

    1.    Clearly articulate the benefits of studying in New Zealand, followed by benefits offered by specific locations and education providers to ensure that students have a broad idea of the New Zealand way of life.

    2.    Identify the key drivers of choice for your target students and if those drivers focus around country, course or provider choice.

    3.    Ensure that those supporting student decision-making are equipped with the same knowledge as well as how New Zealand compares to the alternative destinations that the prospective student may be considering.

    Application and enrolment phase

    4.    Invest in pre-arrival communications, take the time to reinforce the choice of destination with both the international students and their influencers.

    5.    Ensure pre-arrival communications address common challenges or challenges regularly highlighted by international students of a similar demographic.

    6.    Consider how international students can begin to build their networks and local connections to ensure a smooth transition.

    During study 

    7.    Identify if there are a group of students at your institution, who may have been actively considering an alternative destination.

    8.    Look at which aspects of student experience have the most impact on overall experience and invest your resources there. For example, enhancements to living experience scores are likely to have the most impact on overall student experience.

     

     

  • NZ EdTech’s taking a diversified and leading message to the Australian digital education market

    ENZ had a stand at NZTE’s pavilion with six of the eight EdTech who had expressed an interest in attending EduTech as part of an ENZ delegaton, showcasing their products alongside NZTE’s five customers. The companies in the ENZ delegation included Pacific Kids' Learning, Nutriblocks, PipiLearning, Jix Reality,  PolyMath and Code Avengers and the Student Volunteer Army were also part of the wider ENZ delegation. This diverse group of technology providers from K-12 to Vocational Training and Education (VET) and Higher Education (HE) provide a range of digital education solutions including numeracy, literacy, financial literacy, STEM, programmes for neuro diverse learners, Pacific based and culturally responsive digital tools, immersive digital education experiences and health and wellbeing educational games.

    PolyMath Co-Founders Sophie and Christian Silver (second and third from left) talking with attendees at their EduTech Melbourne 2023 stand.

    ENZ’s participation supports Focus Area Two of the New Zealand International Education Strategy which is to ‘Build a new international education future’. In taking NZ EdTech offshore, ENZ’s goal is to show how Aotearoa New Zealand is leading in education innovation while also helping NZ EdTech companies explore and understand the export opportunity in Australia in a low-risk and low-cost way.

    ENZ’s Business Development Manager | Kaiwhakawhanake Pakihi, Alana Pellow, said that having a stand on NZTE’s pavilion gave ENZ’s delegation profile and extra visibility during the Expo. This included the opportunity to promote their products, a presentation slot to pitch their products, visibility of their collateral and the opportunity to engage with expo attendees over the two days of the event.

    “All six EdTechs on our stand generated a total of 80 prospective customer and partner leads, with one company signing a contract with a local university while there.

    “All met with decisions makers and government education officials, explored opportunities to partner with other NZ EdTechs and refined their thinking and business planning on the opportunities presented by the Australian market. They all referenced the significant value of being ‘in market.’”

    Nutriblocks Co-Founder Dr Claudia Leong and Tech Programme Developer Tim Kern presenting at EduTech Melbourne 2023.

    ENZ also sponsored the NZTE networking dinner for the combined 13 EdTech businesses. Invited guests included representatives from the Victorian Department of Education and Training, Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals, Matterworks/Board Director and the NSW Department of Education. Both Education Departments set the scene for the education technology landscape in NSW and Victoria and the journey both states are on in digital adapting and adopting specifically in K-12. 

    ENZ also supported giving broader visibility of Aotearoa New Zealand’s expertise in digital education and secured two speaker sessions for the EduTech VET conference stream.  Norie Ape, Digital Product Manager for Te Pūkenga, presented on ‘Collaborative Innovation: Transforming Vocational Education through Technology and Work Based Learning’ while Elizabeth Asbury, Director of Pipi Learning  also spoke on ‘Cultural responsive and designed for neurodiversity in the Vocational Education and Training sector’. Both sessions were well attended and Norie and Elizabeth have been approached for further discussions involving contracting their EdTech services.

    Norie said it was a huge privilege to spend time together connecting on our shared passion for better outcomes for our learners, employers, and our colleagues.

    “We had two incredible days of meeting, learning, and collaborating in person with awesome humans using Tech 4 Good in Melbourne.  Time now to recover and setup all those post conference connections to further the new relationships forged and consider how to embed new ways of collaboration in and beyond.’’

    Norie Ape, Digital Product Manager for Te Pūkenga (second from left) with Code Avengers Founder, Hamish Day (far right) and Bradley Hansen (left) plus Karl de Borst (second from right) of Amazon Web Services.

    At the conclusion of EduTech Melbourne 2023, Alana shared here top three takeaways from the conference.  

    “Firstly, nothing beats being on the ground in market, to understand the needs of educators and the opportunity that exists. 

    “Secondly, there is power in the collective ‘we’ when Aotearoa New Zealand turns up en masse, in market. Collaborating and having deep relationships with other NZ Inc agencies adds greater support to the sector and provides one door to our government, truly putting the customer at the centre. 

    “My last takeaway is how the Australian education ecosystem is embracing all that technology offers without throwing learners or indeed educators to the kerb. We could learn more from our Australian education colleagues and how they are using digital to create competitive advantage that supports their international education success alongside building their domestic market citizens ‘fit for future’ capability”, said Alana.  

    Next stop for NZ EdTech companies with ENZ is EduTech Asia in Singapore this November. Any NZ EdTech and Education publisher companies or education providers looking to be involved in education technology related Conferences and Expos can contact Alana Pellow on alana.pellow@enz.govt.nz    

  • NZ’s education brand remains stable despite border closures

    A recent presentation by Jason Cate of Kantar, who carried out the 2022 annual brand survey for ENZ, considers two broad questions: 

    • How is the demand for international education changing post-Covid 19? 
    • How is New Zealand’s brand as an education destination being impacted? 

    “This programme tracks perceptions of New Zealand as an education destination globally, but also specific association statements and overall sentiment, appeal and attractiveness,” Jason Cate says.  

    “It’s always interesting to see how this develops and changes over time, particularly over the last couple of years, given all the challenges.” 

    More than 4,800 potential students were surveyed online across 11 priority countries, as well as their parents in some markets. The 16-24 year olds surveyed were mostly current students, and all of them were considering further study in an offshore, English-speaking country. 

    Jason Cate says the survey shows the overall nature of demand for offshore education is stable in 2022, and only slightly lower than before Covid-19.  

    The core reasons why students are considering studying offshore haven’t changed: 

    • to live and travel overseas 
    • to meet new people 
    • to enhance their employability. 

    The survey shows there has been a significant reduction in the proportion of students delaying their studies because of Covid-19 (from close to half of students to around one third), but the proportions of students considering both study offshore and at home, or study offshore and online, have increased. In other words, there is a shift in their preferences for the mode of delivery. 

    Across most of our key partner countries, perceptions of New Zealand are relatively constant, with the only change being a small decline in awareness. New Zealand again tussles with Singapore for the fifth strongest brand in student mobility among English-speaking countries. 

    For more details about global demand and perceptions of New Zealand’s education brand in individual markets, you can listen to the full presentation on Intellilab here, by registering and logging in through MaiENZ. 

     

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