Australian borders reopening sparks positive demand from international students

As we jumpstart into the new year with a renewed sense of optimism and hope, there is still some uncertainty on what this new landscape will look like in 2022 and beyond. However, the data strongly hints that the Australian international education sector is on the verge of a promising return, bouncing back from the disruptive forces of the last two years and becoming an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

Since November’s twin announcement of international borders reopening, more than 43,000 international students have arrived onshore since December 1, and in addition to those arrivals, we’ve seen an immediate uptick in share of demand for Australia despite the rising volume of Omicron cases.

IDP Connect’s IQ Demand Tracker tool shows that for students researching the 4 key English speaking destination markets - UK, US, Canada and Australia - the proportion researching Australia has strengthened from its October low of 16.22% to 18.63%.

This spike is also reflected at application stage. While Semester 1 is the strongest intake for Australia, the data shows a sharp increase in share of applications for this intake period to Australia since the border announcement. This could indicate that Northern Hemisphere countries seeking a more extensive January intake haven’t quite stolen the march on Australia that might’ve been anticipated.

This positive boost in share of demand and enrolments is also reinforced by student’s positive perception on how Australia responded to the pandemic and other related decision-making factors. According to IDP Connect’s New Horizons Pulse Survey, which surveyed over 2,551 current and prospective students, findings show that Australia has ranked consistently strong. See below graph.

The pulse survey also found that Australia has higher consideration among undergraduate students, reaching top spot with 55% and New Zealand at 22%. This could be as a result of undergraduate students having longer study periods and are therefore more willing to start online until they’re able to transition to on-campus learning.

These findings and data trends are certainly encouraging signs for our market position in higher education, but in an ever changing and competitive environment, there is still more work to do. Contact IDP Connect to build a strong and diverse pipeline in 2022, and ensure your marketing, recruitment and portfolio decisions evidence based and focused on demand.

For more information on IDP Connect IQ, click here.