Jon Aizlewood

English Australia honoured outstanding contributors to the Australian English language sector at its annual conference in September. Awards covered areas such as contribution to professional practice, academic leadership and research in the English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector.

International students interested in studying in the US have a new source of information on immigration rules and visa processes – a video produced by the Student Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) and posted on its recently launched Study in the States website. Student to Student: Studying in the States is the first video of its kind from the Department of Homeland Security.

India in the next 10 years is an economy that is going to double in size and no country with a serious international education agenda can afford to ignore India.

English Australia has joined with the Australian tourism industry to argue against a near 30% increase in the cost of the Working Holiday Visa (WHV), which it says could deter overseas language students who combine work and study in Australia. The cost of a Skilled Graduate visa, aimed at recent graduates wishing to work in Australia, is also set to quadruple.

The agency behind the websites All About Languages and Idiomas Fuera has launched two new websites promoting high schools, boarding schools and vocational institutions to English and Spanish speaking markets across Europe and the Americas.

US universities should refocus their attention on “emerging” recruitment markets to avoid over reliance on traditional sources, the education think tank World Educational Services (WES) has claimed in a new report. It points to Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Vietnam and Turkey as top targets, warning dependence on the likes of India, Korea and China means less campus diversity and more financial risk.

A new software platform that seeks to simplify homestay bookings for language schools worldwide, while increasing service and safety for students, could “professionalise” the largely unregulated homestay industry, its owners claim.

During an advocacy day held for English USA members, US government agency, SEVP, informed universities that that they would no longer be able to issue I-20 visas for degree-seeking students on condition of a student improving their English level. They will have to reapply for a new I-20 upon completion of their English level; this is one of several policy adjustments..

Students from the new EU states Romania and Bulgaria are facing waiting times of up to nine months when applying for permission to work part time during their university studies in the UK, the UK Border Agency has revealed. Affected students have said the situation is putting their degrees at risk and forcing them into illegal work.

Study Group welcomed more than 1,500 students and 70 UK universities and institutions to its University Fair last month. Study Group said the fair had given its Bellerby’s students and others a chance to review their options.