The Agent of the Year award is being hailed as the world’s first to gather student and university voices to decide which agents gets recognised by NISAU’s Achievers Honours – held in partnership between NISAU and the UK government and attended by key figures in the international education sector.
NISAU said in introducing the new award it hoped to rebalance power in the international education sector by “ensuring that those who learn and those who teach define what ethical quality looks like in the student-recruitment ecosystem”.
Launching the award, NISAU chairperson Sanam Arora said despite Indian students making up the world’s largest cohort of international students, the sector guiding them had “operated for too long without a transparent, student-protective system of accountability”.
“Through the Achievers Honours, we’re changing that,” she said. “This award gives both students and universities a say in defining who deserves their trust – recognising agencies that act as true partners in the student journey.”
This award gives both students and universities a say in defining who deserves their trust – recognising agencies that act as true partners in the student journey
Sanam Arora, NISAU
NISAU said the new award was designed around several key tenets, including student welfare, employability, and feedback to celebrate agents offering advice “with honesty and care” rather than just to drive enrolments.
It follows a three-stage evaluation process including an independent review and sector endorsements to make sure that recipients reflect excellent, ethical practice and student-centred outcomes.
Applications to NISAU’s Achievement Honours 2026 are now open, and are set to close on December 12.
Entries will go to a sector vote and an expert jury evaluation in the new year, before all finalists are honoured as part of the Achievers Class of 2026, revealed in UK parliament on February 24.
After this, the Outstanding Agent of the Year and the Highly Commended Agent will be announced at the Achievers Gala in London two days later.
