Dan Thomas

Education New Zealand (ENZ) has seen a surge in traffic to its website from Brazil after two of the country’s most influential video bloggers toured New Zealand in June. The influential Jovem Nerds (or 'Young Nerds') gave their large youth audience a guide to New Zealand's ELT sector and tourist attractions via their blog, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

The online education platform WizIQ is to launch a language learning Massive Open Online Course—a sign of a growing trend for MOOCs to be used in the language space. The US firm is offering a 4-week teacher-training course free online.

Our strategy is to support English-medium tertiary education in any country where it may be taking place. We've opened on-campus pathways in Malaysia and France, and Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland are also of interest

The Canadian language school ILAC has signed an articulation agreement with pathways giant INTO, enabling its students to progress to INTO’s US pathways. ILAC, which has campuses in Vancouver and Toronto, says a number of other American institutions have approached it about pursuing similar tie-ups, too.

International educators have welcomed a sharp fall in the value of the Australian dollar, which is likely to remain low for the rest of the year, significantly cutting the cost of studying in the country. The dollar has dropped almost 12% since May, reaching its lowest point since 2010 – around US$0.90 – and could fall to US$0.85 next year.

Study Group, the global pathways and language provider, saw profits fall again this year due to poor performance in the US and Australia, although the firm’s UK operations grew. The Australia-based firm reported a 3.7% fall in revenue for the year ending December 31 2012 along with a pre-tax loss of £33.6m.

France has made it easier for students from outside the European Union to obtain visas and work in the country after they graduate, in a bid to attract more international students to the country. Students will no longer have to renew visas annually and can stay in France for up to a year to find work after graduation.

India and China market entry specialists Sannam S4 and Grok Education Services have announced a strategic partnership to support educators trying to break into Asia. The move will give educators access to a wider range of services and markets (Grok has flagged Malaysia) via a "single relationship".

Non-European Union undergraduate applications submitted by the June deadline have climbed 6%, in a sign that toughened visa policies are not deterring students at tertiary level. However, Dominic Scott, CEO at UKCISA, said that the figures only represented a proportion of the overall market, and that the sector continued "to hold its breath" about enrolments in the autumn.

Singapore's Council for Private Education (CPE) and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) have signed a Memorandum of Co-operation (MOC) to enhance standards of private education in both countries. NZQA has already visited Singapore to explore CPE's EduTrust Certification scheme.