Dan Thomas

To be successful you need to understand the time frame under which educators have to collect payments from students and how important this is as part of the overall application process

Sixty three Brazilian universities are to offer Pakistani students scholarships to study in Brazil, through a scheme announced last week. The scholarships can be used on a range of courses, including medicine, engineering, business administration and international relations. But they come with a catch – recipients must return to their home country after completing their studies.

The Australian Council of Private Education and Training (ACPET) has said that the upcoming Australian election will benefit private international education operators, whichever side wins. However, CEO Claire Field told The PIE News that the Opposition Coalition was most likely to push through overdue reforms to the sector.

Kaplan International Colleges (KIC) has boosted blended learning at all 23 of its North American schools through a partnership with Carnegie Speech. It will offer Carnegie's NativeAccent, an online programme that helps students improve their speaking and listening, and complements face-to-face lessons.

British universities paid an estimated £120 million in agent commission in 2011/12 according to a new study – equivalent to an average £1,000 per student. Of the 302, 600 non-EU students recruited, around 38 per cent were placed by agents, with institutions paying a variety of commission rates and flat fees. It also revealed that admissions processing times vary wildly between universities.

International education giant Navitas has returned to profit in FY2013 after a tough 2012, largely due to improved operating conditions in its biggest market, Australia. The firm, which offers pathway, English language, vocational and corporate courses in a number of countries, saw revenue climb by 6% to AUS$731.7m and net profit by 2% to $74.6m. This follows a 5% profit fall in 2012.

Higher education institutions that sponsor international students in the UK will be able to access direct support and guidance from the Home Office by Autumn, the government has said, as it begins the rollout of its premium Tier 4 support service. However, there are still concerns over the standard of support that will be provided and the cost of the scheme.

Representatives of more than 100 Japanese universities have been briefed about the Australian government's new strategy to increase engagement with Asia, raising hopes that mobility between the countries will improve. With 400 academic partnerships between the countries in existence the potential for more collaboration is clear.

There is a false debate about English medium teaching in France, because actually we already offer more than 850 programmes taught in English. What is important is that the government has come out and said it supports it.

A strike by Canada’s foreign services workers that has caused lengthy visa processing delays may be nearing an end, after the government accepted an arbitration offer from the union involved in the crisis. While PAFSO is still considering the governments terms, Gonzalo Peralta, the head of Languages Canada, said that the international education sector could expect to see improvements in the next few months.