Australasia

Quality English (QE) has officially welcomed Southern Lakes English College in New Zealand as the latest QE member school. Speaking at the ICEF ANZA workshop in Queenstown, New Zealand, QE's Carolyn Blackmore confirmed that locally run school is the latest...

Educators from New Zealand and Australia met with agents for the two-day ICEF Australia New Zealand Agent (ANZA) workshop in Queensland New Zealand last month...

A new tuition protection scheme (TPS) to be introduced in Australia will benefit international students but could heap costs on the English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector, a leading sector body has warned. Others have expressed concern that the scheme is being introduced to quickly by the government.

Yet more data has evidenced Australia’s ongoing recruitment slide as it struggles with the side effects of the Baird Review and a buoyant dollar. A report Australian Education International shows that the total number of international student visa holders in Australia fell 9.5% in 2011.

Argentina is the latest addition to a reciprocal visa arrangement set up by the Australian government aimed at those studying, or who have studied, at tertiary level. Australians and Argentines will be able to work, study and holiday in each other countries during a 12 month period...

Two-thirds of international students in Australia would reconsider NSW and Victoria as study destinations due to the lack of travel concessions for international students, according to a study by ACPET released today. It argues for a cohesive approach to international student discounts.

Australia’s pole position of third in the world for hosted international students (based on UNESCO data) could be at risk according to a recent study from Australian Educational Research (ACER), especially given more competition from Asia-Pacific neighbours...

NZ's International Student of the Year begins a four-year undergraduate degree at the University of Canterbury this month; one of 24 scholarship winners...

Australia has produced a promotional video which is being disseminated to potential students worldwide via an updated iPad app, the Study in Australia website and at education events...

The University of Sydney in Australia has announced that it will now accept top Chinese undergraduate degree applicants without requiring them to take a foundation pathway programme, if they excel in the Gaokao exam and have excellent English...

Universities, TAFE Institutes and leading education providers from Victoria, Australia, are visiting India this week to promote international education. The six-day trip, led by Victorian premier Ted Ballieu, has so far seen agreements between seven Indian and Australian institutions and new initiatives unveiled.

ACPET in Australia is to open an office in China this year to promote Australian offshore delivery, with a focus on vocational education and training (VET). The private industry association will open a base in the city of Chongqing to support members seeking opportunities or partnerships in China.

Australia is to make the visa application process easier for students from 29 countries by reducing assessment levels in a range of visa subclasses. English language students in Korea and postgraduate students from China are among the beneficiaries of the new ruling.

Australian global education provider Navitas has posted a sound but slower half-year profit, due to challenges in markets in Australia and the UK. Meanwhile Hyperion Asset Management has increased its stake in the company.

More good news for Australian international education: international graduate employability in the country climbed 12 percentage points last year to the highest level since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008...