The company, which started in Japan in 2006, has 23 offices in 15 countries including India, the UK and Turkey. It began as an agency sending Japanese students to UK HEIs, and to this day sends global students to the UK education system. It has now expanded to provide recruitment services for FE colleges and language schools, along with universities.

“Our universities have been encouraging us to open offices in these regions”

The cities in which SI-UK will open offices in 2018 are: Kathmandu, Nepal; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Rawalpindi, Pakistan; Bogota, Colombia; and Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The company also plans to open six to eight new global offices each year until 2021, increasing the number of offices worldwide to over 50. If completed, SI-UK claims this goal will make it the world’s second largest educational agency.

In 2014, the it opened new offices in China, Thailand and Nigeria.

The announcement of expansion into five in 2018 comes after SI-UK assisted with over 28,000 university applications, and senior management foresees a double digit growth for the upcoming year.

Orion Judge, director of SI-UK Global said that SI-UK had been interested in opening in the five countries as they have been strong markets for study in the UK.

“Our universities have been encouraging us to open offices in these and other regions, which add to the diversity of international students studying at UK campuses,” he said.

“SI-UK’s target is to open country offices in all major UK HE recruitment markets, including upcoming markets. We are certain the SI-UK brand will become the dominant global agency brand within the next five years.”

Over 125 multi-lingual counsellors provide students with guidance, test preparation and visa support pre-departure, while UK offices in London and Manchester offer post-arrival services. Judge added that the company will employ at least a further 25 multi-lingual counsellors in new offices.

SI-UK works with over 100 UK universities, according to Judge.

“Universities sign contracts based on their regional recruitment needs,” Judge said. “Nevertheless we support a very wide group of U.K. universities in their recruitment needs.”

SI-UK operates university fairs globally, the most recent of which in London attracted over 1900 students and 100 universities. The company website is published in 10 languages.