The University of Exeter has been named the top international university in the UK in the second annual Whatuni Student Choice Awards, voted for by thousands of international students and graduates.

The result of nine months' design work, ‘Ultimate Search’ is a new course search tool from Hotcourses, which matches students to courses in 10 study destinations by taking into account their current or predicted academic qualifications, budget and level of English proficiency. The company claims its new tool will lead to better qualified enquiries.

Student recruitment company Hotcourses has launched its "virtual agency services" for Indian students interested in higher education programmes. The move will expand the company's portfolio which already includes a university course search site and online application services.

The University of York has been named the top international university in the UK by thousands of international students and graduates using HotcoursesAbroad.com and its dozen local language sites. The accolade is based on student reviews and ratings collected over the past year.

The University of Glasgow has won Hotcourses Abroad's global photo contest, winning a £500 bursary for an international student of their choosing thanks to a photograph of Glasgow's skyline taken by student William Newman. More than 6,500 votes were cast in total for a shortlist of 29 entries.

The CEO of Hotcourses has cited differences in short- and long-term objectives between potential investor Inflexion and his company, as he confirms the deal is off and looks to add education consultancy services to the brand.

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.

Hotcourses Australia, a course comparison website with the most comprehensive database of courses in Australia, has launched a study exchange search for prospective students. There are over 36,000 courses offering exchange to over 2,000 partner institutions.