A new framework for institutions is being proposed by IRCC in a bid to raise the bar on international student services.

It has been reported that through the the Trusted Institution Framework, a new two-tier system will be introduced which will see international students with places at established institutions have their study permits expedited. However, full details are yet to be outlined.

Graham Barber, assistant director of international relations, Universities Canada, told The PIE the framework has been in the works for around a year and the sector can expect to hear an outline of the framework in early 2024.

The initiative was was born out of the need to remedy the visa delays the country’s international students experienced in 2022, but Barber said that since then, other issues have arisen which need rectifying. Therefore such a framework is needed to help Canada “catch up” with its global competitors, he suggested.

“We thought this is a way that we could address this by creating a new framework in which the federal government and institutions in Canada cooperated together to raise the bar for international standards,” said Barber.

“It’s raising the bar on international student services and defining what the expectations are for institutions and really setting a standard across the country.”

At the moment, any Canadian institution that receives international students is classed as a Designated Learning Institution – a school approved by a provincial or territorial government to host international students. Inbound international students to Canada are required to have an acceptance letter from a DLI in order to apply for a Canadian study permit.

The new Trusted Institution Framework will see this system become two-tiered, where some DLIs will be awarded with the Trusted Institute classification for meeting certain criteria.

Barber sees the initiative as both guidance and a leadership vision that is being proposed to improve the entire system.

The benefits of becoming a trusted institution include “lighter touch processing” as well as more trust between the federal government and institutions. It is hoped that by removing the need for the IRCC to double check verifications already checked by university admissions departments – such as language proficiency – study permit backlogs will be reduced.

“It will free up some resources for the department to handle some more difficult and challenging applications,” said Barber.

College and Institutes Canada told The PIE that along with its member institutions, it is invested in working with IRCC to strengthen Canada’s International Student Program.

“In our view, implementing a two-way information-sharing mechanism that would lead to faster processing times, more predictable outcomes, and bolster program integrity is essential” CICan said in a statement.

Under CICan’s recommendation, the Trusted Institution Framework is currently undergoing a test phase with the department engaging directly with post-secondary institutions on the feasibility of criteria currently under consideration with a view to ensuring alignment across the sector and creating greater transparency and accountability.

A spokesperson for CBIE said it “strongly supports the development of a more strategic IRCC policy framework that is better attuned to the needs of international students as well as to the interests of Canada’s educational institutions, communities, and labour markets”.

“Smart and properly calibrated immigration policies can expand and improve access to affordable housing, health, education, and social services for both Canadians and international students,” they said.

The association has also urged IRCC to “take a careful and balanced approach to any new measures that it pursues in order to both maintain the integrity of Canada’s immigration policies and program and prevent any unintended consequences for Canada’s leadership position as a destination for international students”.

“Efforts to improve Canada’s immigration policy approaches to international students need to acknowledge the full range and depth of contributions that they can make to building a stronger, more resilient, innovative, and outward-looking Canada,” the spokesperson told The PIE.

It has been reported in media such as ICEF that the framework will rely on a combination of government data, such as origin countries, study permit approval rates and post-graduation student outcomes, as well as data provided by DLIs.

The DLI data includes things like on-time program completion rates, percentage of revenues derived from international tuitions, institutional spending on international student support services, availability of student housing and student-teacher ratio.

Some stakeholders have expressed scepticism on the initiative, particularly surrounding such methodology.

“First, I have some doubts that it will survive a legal challenge” wrote Alex Usher, founder and CEO of Higher Education Strategy Associates in a blogpost.

“This scheme is effectively trying to create two classes of DLIs: ‘good’ and ‘bad’,” wrote Usher.

“It’s genuinely unclear to me that the government of Canada can do this: DLI status is a gift of the provinces, and I am not sure under what authority the feds think they have the power to discriminate between them without provincial agreement.”

Usher also took issue with some of the indicators set to be used to determine an institution’s eligibility to be classed as trusted.

Barber told The PIE that IRCC are still working to determine the metrics used to classify an institute as a trusted institute and that the metrics will be goals that every institution can work towards.

It’s a pretty complicated thing to set a bar for all institutions of varying sizes and regions

“It’s a pretty complicated thing to set a bar for all institutions of varying sizes and regions and so part of this effort is just setting metrics that work for for everyone and are very feasible.”

“We really appreciate the government’s effort to be really data driven and understand that there’s a need to be really data driven. We also know that doesn’t tell the full story,” said Barber.

Barber said that the framework is not necessarily about pointing out the good and bad actors in the sector but instead about showing what it looks like to be a “responsible actor” in the international education space and inviting all institutions to reach this goal.

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The number of UK universities in the top 200 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings has dropped, while some Asian universities have risen up the list. 

The University of Oxford has been named as the world’s number one university for the eighth year in a row in the latest rankings released this week, but the UK has three fewer universities in the world top 200 since last year, with 25 now in total. 

Stanford University has taken second place followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in third place. All the top 10 universities are from the US and UK. 

Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer at Times Higher Education, said the data shows “trends that threaten the UK’s aspirational status as a world science superpower”. 

“The UK’s standing among academics worldwide, while still very high, is in steady decline, which can have worrying consequences for future partnerships, investments and collaborations,” he said. 

He added that the UK is “losing ground” in terms of research income and attracting international students, while competition from East Asia is “accelerating”, as two Chinese universities feature in the top 15 for the first time.

Tsinghua University and Peking University took 12th and 14th place respectively, with 13 Chinese universities featuring in the top 200.

Australia’s universities have also declined, with all institutions in the top 200 ranked lower than last year. 

India’s most prestigious university, the Indian Institute of Science, just missed out on a place in the top 200, but the country’s institutions did show some gains. 

“The UK’s standing among academics worldwide is in steady decline”

The university was ranked in the 201-250 band for the first time since 2017, while others including Anna University, Aligarh Muslim University and Bharathiar University also moved up the table. 

Over 90 Indian institutions are included on the list in total, up from 75 last year. 

Amarjit Singh, founder and chief executive officer of the India Business Group, congratulated the universities.

“This timely edition recognises the innovative and impactful work that several Indian institutions are spearheading which clearly reflects the improvement in the quality of their research, teaching, knowledge exchange and global collaborations,” he said. 

A total of 33 Asian universities are in the top 200, up from 28 last year and Asia is the most represented continent with 737 participating institutions. 

Despite growing criticisms of ranking systems, more universities than ever participated in THE’s rankings this year, with 1,904 universities on the list, up from 1,799 in 2022. 

Earlier this year, BRICS nations announced they would launch their own rankings table, accusing established ones of being skewed towards the Global North.

THE has updated its methodology, introducing more performance indicators, grouped into five pillars: teaching, research quality, research environment, international outlook and industry.

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The top 125 private schools worldwide have been revealed in the Schools Index 2023.

The fourth iteration of the index, put together by global education consultancy Carfax Education, splits the list into the top providers in different regions of the world.

Benenden has been named top UK Senior School, Cottesmore top UK Prep School, Beau Soleil best in Switzerland and Sotogrande top in the rest of Europe category.

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is top among schools in the Middle East, UWCSEA ranked first in South East Asia, Philips Exeter Academy in the US and India’s all-boy boarding school, The Doon School, first in the rest of the world category.

Carfax led a panel of education consultants to select the schools, with criteria such as academic results and preparation for university entry also taken into consideration.

Additionally, schools were selected for their unique ethos, their reputation both locally and internationally, and how they prepare students for life beyond academia, the consultancy added.

“Now in its fourth year, the Schools Index has rapidly become a valuable resource for parents looking for the very best education for their child, wherever they are in the world – as well as for the private schools sector,” head of Education at Carfax Education, Fiona McKenzie, said.

“Demand for excellent schools remains high and is still fiercely competitive, as parents strive to ensure their child receives the strongest foundations to set them up for a lifetime of success.”

“Demand for excellent schools remains high and is still fiercely competitive”

New entries joining the world-renowned schools on the list – such as Eton College, Wycombe Abbey, Rugby School, St Paul’s School in Brazil and Geelong Grammar School in Australia – include UK senior school, Radley and UK prep school, Port Regis, as well as The British School in Delhi and The Dalton School, US.

Brighton College Abu Dhabi, which was ranked second best in the Middle East, said the recognition “reinforces the excellence being demonstrated by our school community”.

“This strength of community, alongside our outstanding academic outcomes and the phenomenal teaching, care and guidance provided by our teachers, will undoubtedly have played a significant role in Brighton College Abu Dhabi being ranked as the second top school in the Middle East by the 2023 school index from Carfax Education,” said head master Scott Carnochan.

The UK’s Sevenoaks School was ranked 22nd best senior school in the UK, ahead of the likes of Winchester and Gordonstoun, and just one place behind Rugby.

Headmaster of the coeducational IB school, Jesse Elzinga pointed to Sevenoaks’s “outstanding academic results, focus on wellbeing and strong service ethos” as the reasons for the  recognition as “a top senior school globally since the Index began”.

“The Schools Index gives parents a helpful insight into what schools offer so they can organise a visit, make an informed choice and decide on the right school for their child,” Elzinga added.

The full list of 125 school is available here.

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Mega study abroad application platform ApplyBoard has taken the unprecedented step of publishing a public ‘blocklist’ of agents who have been banned from using the service.

The company is also encouraging colleagues from across the sector to report agents who are suspected of malpractice through a nomination form.

The ApplyBoard website states it now works with over 10,000 recruitment partners in an “approved recruiter network” allowing institutions to significantly expand their global reach through trusted agents.

The promise of increased access to “more schools, perks and faster commissions” attracts many small- to medium-sized agent enterprises around the world to work with the platform rather than secure institutional contracts directly.

However, in a bold move to improve transparency in the sector, the company has decided to highlight not only the good agents, but also the bad.

A new page on the website states it is “essential to ensure trust and transparency in the international education sector. That’s why we share our list of blocked recruitment partners.”

“We would encourage institutions to publish their blocklists and all their partner names, if possible”

The site lists agents personally by name, along with company name, country of operation and website if applicable. There are currently 45 names publicly listed.

Included in the blocklist is Brijesh Mishra from agency emsa, who was arrested in Canada after allegedly scamming over 700 students by giving them fake admissions letters.

Originally the website stated that “the [blocklist] list includes all former recruitment partners who are no longer part of our network. Applyboard has fully removed their access to the platform.”

However ApplyBoard have since amended the website and clarified to The PIE saying “our published blocklist is made up of agents and agencies who may or may not have worked with ApplyBoard.

“Brijesh Mishra, nor any agency he worked with, was ever part of the ApplyBoard platform.”

Stakeholders in the industry have called for further clarity about how the list has been formed and the right of reply. There is obvious reputational damage to being publicly named as untrustworthy.

A nomination form added to the ApplyBoard website states “we welcome our partner institutions to submit any recruitment partners and/or international student agents that they have determined they do not wish to work with”.

However the form requires the ‘requestor’ to leave their own details removing the option to report in anonymity. This could deter industry whistleblowers who want to raise the alarm but fear repercussions.

Reasons to report are listed ranging from threatening behaviour of agents though to submission of fake documents or impersonating applicants at interview.

Speaking to The PIE, Meti Basiri, founder of ApplyBoard explained “when it comes to the source of an entry and the reporter’s identity, we take thorough measures to ensure accuracy.

“We collaborate with numerous colleges and universities who regularly report to us. In addition, our dedicated compliance team meticulously verifies the information against our internal data. We strongly believe in fostering unity within the sector. We encourage transparency from every individual and organisation.”

In Australia, higher education institutions are required to publicly state the recruitment agents they work with, whereas in the UK and other parts of the world this is not compulsory.

Quoted in The BIG Issue recently, agent expert Vincenzo Raimo, said  “there’s no regulation about agents in reality.

“If I’m hypothetically running a rogue agency in Ahmedabad in India, and you come to me and I rip you off, how are you going to take advantage of the consumer protection laws in the UK?”

The terms and conditions of using ApplyBoard, a Canadian company with registered subsidiary companies in the UK and India, states that “all recruitment partners that work with ApplyBoard are required to sign and abide by a contract containing stringent terms and conditions that are carefully drafted by ApplyBoard.

“These terms are aligned to global codes of conduct and ethical standards, ensuring accountability to protect students and the reputation of all our partner institutions.”

The company outlines a comprehensive review and warning process where a recruitment partner is suspected to have breached their contractual obligations.

“Any measure that aims to improve transparency in the education agent recruitment space is to be welcomed”

The blocklist however does not specify why agents have been blocked or if they ever had access in the first place.

“We would encourage institutions to publish their blocklists and all their partner names, if possible,” explained Basiri.

“It seems that expectations for transparency are often limited to technology platforms. Through our research, we’ve discovered that over 75% of recruitment partners working with major institutions are B2B, and their transparency levels are often quite low.”

A spokesperson from AgentBee, a company that offers agent due diligence solutions for institutions and has been monitoring agent arrests reported in the global press, said “any measure that aims to improve transparency in the education agent recruitment space is to be welcomed”.

“Institutions working with aggregators and benefiting from the scale and reach that they provide, have a responsibility to hold them to account on the integrity of their sub-agent networks rather than taking assurances at face value.”

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This week, we spent five minutes with Devarshi Desai, the co-founder of media start-up Internash and student recruitment company Studynash.

We spoke about Devarshi’s transition from an international student content creator to working in the industry and what he is seeing from universities on TikTok.

How did you find yourself working in international education?

By sheer accident. I came to Australia as an international student to study a business master’s at Monash University. Soon after coming to Australia, I started creating content about the life of an international student on YouTube and other social media platforms.

We ended up creating one of the largest online communities of international students and turned our following into a media startup. Today I run a media startup (Internash) and an edtech startup (Studynash) helping students study abroad.

Proudest career moment?

The first time when an international student walked up to me and said, ‘Thank you, Dev. I am in Australia, living my dream because of you and the content you create. It helped my parents feel a lot better too because they got to know what my life would be like once I reach Australia to study.’

Since that day it has been my mission to help as many students as possible to fulfil their dream of studying abroad.

What do you think is the biggest challenge to your profession?

I strongly believe this is the best time to build a career in international education because students worldwide understand the value of the experience they can get from studying abroad and the number of students studying abroad is increasing year by year.

However, the profession’s biggest challenge is the ever-changing policies and laws regarding the entry of international students and migrants. Whether it is the UK or Australia, we have seen policies affecting international students change quite a bit.

A long-term stable view towards immigration might help prospective international students and international education overall.

If you could learn any language instantly, which one would it be and why?

Body language. When you start working with people from different cultural backgrounds you learn so much about their culture and their body language.

What’s the most interesting trend you’ve observed in our industry recently?

My background is in marketing and social media. For the longest time, we all believed that making TikTok videos and Instagram reels is something limited to Gen Z or the younger generation.

“Watching universities create TikTok videos has been an interesting trend for me”

However, if we look at the stats, over 40% of the users on TikTok are between the age of 30 to 50, and now, no matter how big an organisation is, they are compelled to be on such platforms and create content.

Watching universities create TikTok videos has been an interesting trend for me.

If you had a magic wand, what would you change about the sector?

In an ideal world, I would want international education to be affordable and accessible for every student across the world that wishes to study abroad.

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US stakeholders have warned that a proposal to reduce funding for the US Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs by $700 million in a bill passing through the legislature would decimate the study abroad sector.

Last minute additions to the H.R. 4665 – Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024, would entirely eliminate funding for the exchange programs if passed.

The House Rules Committee needs to approve the rule before it moves to the House, where representatives will be able to vote to remove amendments.

Sector stakeholders are hoping that the Republican-controlled lower house will take out any parts of the bill that will hit the international education sector. However, they also say that the entire bill will be struck down entirely by the Democrat-led Senate.

Republican member of the house of representatives from Arizona, Andy Biggs, has proposed amendments that he says will pause “out-of-control federal spending”. According to the US treasury, the federal government currently has $33.10 trillion in federal debt.

“It’s outrageous that a MAGA Republican would propose an amendment to must pass legislation to defund the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Exchange and eliminate cultural exchange programs as we know them,” said American Institute for Foreign Study chairman, William L Gertz.

“These programs have been an integral part of America’s Public Diplomacy efforts and have always been nonpartisan in nature,” he told The PIE.

“It is clearly a shot across the bow at internationalism and cultural exchange”

“While this amendment will not pass,  it is clearly a shot across the bow at internationalism and cultural exchange. It needs to be condemned vigorously.”

The Alliance for International Exchange is urging representatives to oppose Amendment 133 and appealing sector stakeholders to appeal to their representatives.

“Department of State educational and cultural exchange programs are a proven and cost effective way for the United States to remain internationally competitive, engage current and future international leaders, and promote American values,” a letter to members of the House of Representatives says.

Exchanges are a “key instrument of US foreign policy and essential to strengthening US global leadership, and building respect and partnerships based on shared interests and mutual ties around the world”, it added.

Eliminating exchange program funding would negatively impact Americans and their communities across the country. The Alliance added that more than 90% of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs budget goes to American organisations, businesses and individuals.

“If enacted, Amendment 133 would devastate State Department educational and cultural exchange programs going forward, which would greatly harm not only our national security, but also the many American communities who host exchange visitors.”

The proposal comes after a tough year for international education in the US. There were concerns in spring about the potential impact of a rule from the Department of Education that would hit any third-party providers.

However, bipartisan bills were introduced in the US Congress in a bid to actually boost funding for study abroad programs earlier this summer. Additionally, the Biden administration has stated that study abroad is a “priority” for the government.

As well as eliminating exchange program funding, amendments proposed to the bill by a number of Republicans include reducing the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative by $300m and cutting the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program for children in low-income, food-deficit countries around the globe by $40m.

Republican representative from Pennsylvania, Scott Perry, has also proposed to reduce International Disaster Assistance funding to $0 from the current $3.9 billion.

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The University of Portsmouth is establishing a presence in London with a brand new campus, set to welcome its first students early next year.

The university’s partnership with global property investment and development group Northchild Group will see the university campus set up in Waltham Forest. Until now it has been the only north east London borough without a higher education institute.

The campus will initially be located within two floors of an existing building but plans are being developed for a complete new single site campus, able to accommodate up to 7,000 students.

The partners are working with Waltham Forest Council to launch the campus which will welcome the first cohort of around 100 international postgraduate students in February 2024, followed by undergraduate students in September 2024.

The university is set to recruit equal numbers of international and domestic students. In March 2023, an admissions and recruitment centre was opened in Walthamstow Library as part of its preparations for welcoming the first students to Waltham Forest.

In addition to undergraduate and postgraduate courses, University of Portsmouth London said it will extend its initial offering to provide work-based learning opportunities in the form of apprenticeships and flexible ways to study, designed with the skills and needs of local people and businesses in mind.

Graham Galbraith, vice-chancellor, University of Portsmouth told The PIE of the importance of “civic connectivity” throughout project.

“I think the mistake that can easily be made is for a university in some part of the country to parachute itself into a community almost uninvited,” said Galbraith.

“We wanted to go somewhere where we could build up a relationship with the local community”

Instead, the university has linked with the council to build its aspirations for the area into the campus programs and studies.

Discussions have been had with local colleges, particularly around what students on further education programs are studying and how the launch of the new campus can work to complement that.

According to the university, it’s estimated that the new campus will boost the borough’s economy by up to £372 million over the next 20 years, with benefits to local supply chains, research opportunities for local businesses, the creation of over 500 new local jobs and more.

“We wanted somewhere where there wasn’t that higher education presence and where around that there wasn’t a university like us – in ranking and positioning in the league tables,” said Galbraith.

“We wanted to go somewhere where we could build up a relationship with the local community. That was really, really important to me,” said Galbraith.

“There’s a growing increase in academic performance overall in London and I think having a local university here is going to help with that.”

Grace Williams, leader of Waltham Forest Council said the launch of the campus is an “exciting time” for the borough and community.

“The University of Portsmouth is one of the top modern universities in the country and will offer our residents a world-class education right on our doorstep, whatever their age or background,” she added.

Williams hopes one group of people who will benefit from the partnership is care leavers and added that the university has committed to a bursary, which will support care experienced individuals from Waltham Forest.

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Infrastructure providers will soon be able to establish operations on behalf of universities in India’s GIFT City, giving institutions the chance to set up branch campuses without fronting the cash. 

India’s special economic zone is open to the top 500 ranked foreign universities, free from the regulations that govern the rest of the country. But setting up operations abroad can be a serious risk for institutions and some may be reluctant to part with the cash required. 

Service and infrastructure providers instead offer the chance to explore franchise-style operations.  

Regulators are set to publish rules outlining how infrastructure providers can operate in the city in the coming weeks and begin granting licences to eligible companies soon after.  

Global Education Holdings (Gedu), which runs institutions including Global Banking School, is one of those set to begin operating with 30,000 square feet of space reserved for around 1,000 students. 

It is currently looking for partners and promises to front all of the initial capital expenditure and oversee teaching delivery and student recruitment, if required. University partners will be expected to provide academic oversight and quality assurance. 

Speaking to British university representatives visiting the city as part of a higher education trade mission, Ray Lloyd, chief academic officer at Gedu, said, “This is about offering opportunities for a high-quality British education to people who wouldn’t normally have access because they can’t afford it.” 

Gedu’s space is in the same building as Australia’s University of Wollongong’s teaching location. Wollongong plans to commence computing courses by the end of 2023, with additional programs launched the following year. 

While courses must replicate those on offer at home campuses, universities are free to set their own tuition fees. Wollongong’s prices will be 50% cheaper than those paid by international students at its Australian campus. 

“The GIFT City regulations are very attractive to international universities”

Deakin University, the other Australia institution set to open in the city, plans to commence two postgraduate courses in cybersecurity and business analytics no later than mid-2024. It will initially enrol 50-60 students per course. 

“The GIFT City regulations are very attractive to international universities,” said Dipankar Chakraborty, regional director for South Asia and the Middle East at the University of Birmingham.

“There are several incentives like no capping of fees and salary for hiring academic staff, charging for programs in international currency, tax holiday as well as allowing full repatriation of profits.

“Although universities will be able to offer programs in a limited number of areas, presence of reputed businesses in the ecosystem will help foster industry-academia collaboration and spur innovation.”

While universities may be enticed by the promise of not having to pay any taxes on their operations for 10 years, it is unclear what will happen after this point. Some are also sceptical about how much profit branch campuses generate more generally, regardless of tax incentives.  

There are also questions around student accommodation, with much building work still ongoing. Regulators suggested that students may choose to live in nearby towns or that universities could work with property developers to establish housing within the city. 

For some, the rankings requirements are also proving to be a barrier.

“I think it’s a wait and watch,” said Debra Hinds, pro vice chancellor international at Arden University, which, as a relatively young university, does not currently enter into rankings. 

The city now spans 886 acres, with provisional plans to expand to 3,300 acres in the future. 

It is home to 24 banks including Barclays and JP Morgan, as well as investment firms, insurance companies and aircraft-leasing companies. Google and consultancy firm Capgemini are among recent additions. 

Courses foreign universities can offer are limited to those that will help prepare graduates for working in these sectors, including financial management and STEM subjects. 

They are expected to attract students who cannot afford to go abroad for an education or have ties that prevent them from leaving India.

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