Jon Aizlewood

My view is we’re an embryonic industry. It’s akin to those first cotton textile mills in mid-18th century Britain which started the industrial revolution, to use an analogy from economic history! We’re only just beginning.

One of the two new national education regulators in Australia, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), has begun consultation with the Australian National ELT Accreditation Scheme (NEAS) after it was nominated as one of two authorities to oversee ELICOS programmes.

Education hub Malaysia is to impose new restrictions on international students entering the country to crack down on visa fraud, and has set up a new body to oversee the enrolment process.

International offers to postgraduate courses in the US increased 9% this year, driven by a boost in offers to students from China, Brazil and the Middle East. However, offers to the US's second and third largest resource countries, India and South Korea, remained flat. Those behind the survey say growth cannot be taken for granted next year.

The Ministry of Education in Singapore has launched a new website to promote the learning of the country's mother tongue languages, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil, in response to the rising interest in English on the peninsula.

Student visa issuance has fallen by a hefty 21% in the UK, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics. In the year to June 2012, 282,833 visas were granted – 75,000 fewer than in the previous 12 months – an indication that government policies to lower the number of overseas students in the UK are gaining traction.

London Metropolitan University has become the UK’s first university to lose its right to recruit non-EU students, the UK Border Agency revealed last night. 2,700 international students, either about to start or in the midst of degree courses, will be given 60 days to find alternative universities.

Pressure is mounting on the UK government to decide whether or not to strip London Metropolitan University of its right to recruit outside the EU, after a report this weekend that the decision had already been made sparked panic among students. 2,700 students may be forced to seek alternative courses.

ICEF, the education event and networking company, has certified its 151st ICEF Trained Agent Counsellor (ITAC) just two years after the programme was launched, reflecting the growing interest in the course.

A report has found that 69% of university students in Portugal plan to emigrate after graduation in search of better working conditions, job opportunities and pay. Most respondents said Europe and South America were their preferred destinations.