North America

A seminar aiming to bridge the gap between university international admissions and the some 5,000 international secondary schools worldwide will be held in the UK next month. Research organisation the International School Consultancy Group (ISC) will hold the event to provide tips and guidance on how to capitalise on recruitment opportunities from this market

Apollo Global, the investment branch of Apollo Education Group – one of the world's largest private education providers – has acquired Australia-based Open Colleges– a leading distance education provider in operation since 1910. Open Colleges says the deal makes international expansion more viable.

A record 1,000 educators, exhibitors, speakers and agents attended ICEF's North America workshop in Miami this month, making the three-day event the largest of its kind in North America. 14% of the 402 agents attending had not been to an ICEF workshop before, contributing to an increase of 24% in participants overall.

Quality and transparency in the use of agents in student recruitment were key themes in the fifth annual AIRC conference last week: the first held since NACAC reversed its policy against the use of commissioned agents in international recruitment.

Australia’s largest international student recruiter has announced that it will enable the public to invest in its business as it makes some shares available when co-owner SEEK- an online job and education company– sells part of its 50% stake in the company. IDP says the IPO will mean further investment in existing operations rather than new growth strategies.

After seven years of development, a US-based electronic funds verification service is set to go to market with the aim of making the process of financially qualifying international students more efficient and secure. The service allows students to move the paper-based process of proving their financial capacity online.

The UK is the most popular destination for 21% of 10,000 Indian students looking to study abroad surveyed by the British Council recently. But as the cost of international education increases and the quality of domestic higher education institutions improve, more students are opting to stay in country.

A multilingual course search and student review website is set to be launched by mid-December, aiming to become the Trip Advisor of the language school industry. Created by ICEF, Coursefinders allows students to search for and directly contact language schools around the world, leaving star-rated reviews and comments about their experience afterwards.

A survey by Hotcourses on the quality of university response to student emails indicates that many institutions need more resources to successfully convert enquiries into applications. Of 406 universities surveyed, 35% of email queries did not receive a response at all and only 36% were answered within 24 hours. New Zealand had the best response rate with an 80% score.

Language schools and service providers from around the world were honoured last week with the first ever awards presented by a Turkish association of education agencies – UED. Accolades were given to institutions and companies in 16 different categories.

Teams from 22 countries competed in a scaled Formula One race in the USA last week, which involved the design, construction and presentation of scale-model replica cars. The event aims to encourage students to use IT to learn about subjects including physics, aerodynamics, marketing and financial strategy.

The British Council has launched a database of almost 4,000 specially trained education agents around the world to help build agent capacity and professionalism in the industry. Agents listed in the database have taken the British Council's training, agreed to an ethical code of principles and committed to periodical assessment in the future. The resource is available for any education institution to use.

Canadian English language school ILAC has launched a dedicated online radio station for international students. The station will broadcast a mix of music, games and English language tips 24 hours a day, allowing people around the world to tune in at any time.

Peer consultation is central to a new website for students looking to study in Canada and Canadians going abroad. In addition to providing information on the application process, funding options and study programmes, iStudent Canada aims to share first-hand experience through blogs, forums and online events.

Paris is the top city in the world for students for the second year running, followed by London and Singapore, according to the QS Best Student Cities index. The team behind the QS World University Rankings has compiled the index based on the cities' university rankings, student mix, quality of living and affordability.