More details into Deakin University’s plans to open a full international teaching campus in India have been released, after the Australian prime minister joined a launch event in Ahmedabad, India.

Deakin’s announcement for a location at GIFT City in India was released ahead of Anthony Albanese’s trip to the country earlier in March.

India’s International Financial Services Centres Authority had previously shared that the campus would offer courses in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The university is said to be investing $4 million in India over the next two-three years, according to The Hindu.

The campus will be in operation no later than mid-2024, and will deliver “job-ready” graduates to meet India’s labour demands and bolster Deakin’s “commitment to providing a world-class education and learning experience for students around the globe”, the university said.

“Deakin was the first international university to establish its presence in India in 1994, and since then, through innovative collaborations across research, education and training, we have forged a bond based on commitment, excellence, trust and transparency,” Deakin vice-chancellor Iain Martin said.

“Our India partnership is one of the jewels in the crown of our growth and success over the almost 50 years of Deakin’s existence from humble beginnings on a green field site at Waurn Ponds in 1974.”

The initial intake will be between 50-60 students, who will be charged around 50% of DU courses in Australia and, despite a trimester opportunity in Australia, they will not qualify for post study work-rights.

“Our India partnership is one of the jewels in the crown of our growth”

Student numbers in India – on two-year postgraduate masters of cybersecurity and of business analytics programs – will later increase to 100.

Stakeholders are known in the past to have questioned whether, without access to work rights, TNE courses taught overseas offer the same outcomes as those programs taught in country.

It will also provide “better opportunities” for local students who cannot afford to travel and live in Australia to study, the institution noted, adding that the campus will operate on the basis that standards and requirements are equivalent to those at Deakin’s four campuses in Australia.

The standard will be the same in GIFT City as in Australia, with academic standards based on Deakin’s standards frameworks and manuals aligned with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.

Martin told Financial Express that while the branch campus will initially cater for Indian students it could potentially later welcome students from other South Asian nations.

“There will definitely be student exchange between Australian campuses and the IBC,” he said. The PM also shared his hopes for increased intercultural exchange between the two countries.

I very much want to see growing numbers of Australian and Indian students having the experiences of living and studying in our respective countries – and to bring those experiences home. pic.twitter.com/MUm1eFfGoZ

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) March 10, 2023

Some 20% of teaching will be delivered by Australia-based staff, with opportunities for Indian staff to visit Australia every 18 months, Martin added.

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A group of Kenyan students enrolled in universities in Finland since September 2021 are facing expulsion from campuses and subsequent deportation after a local Kenyan government unit failed to meet its fees obligations.

The students are in the country in a deal between five universities and the County Government of Uasin Gishu, a devolved unit in the East African country.

The unit failed to meet its commitment to pay for the full tuition and accommodation fees amounting to millions of dollars, contrary to a tripartite agreement it had agreed with the universities and parents of the 384 students.

As the students, some of them in their second year of learning, face discontinuation of studies if fees is not settled by March 31, the county government is battling accusations of misappropriating money kept in an education trust fund account it was managing, and in which parents had deposited about US$4.9 million.

Under the deal, the county government was to act as guarantors for the students now at the centre of “airlift scandal”, to ensure they obtained study visas from the Finnish government, while the students acquired much needed skills via degrees in health and engineering related fields.

While the parents deposited the money in the trust fund account and the first successful 51 left for one of the institutions, Tampere University, other batches of students followed suit leaving Kenya for Jyväskylä, Laurea and LUT universities in subsequent months of 2021 and 2022, bringing the total number 202.

Subsequently another 180 students applied and got admitted to the institutions under the arrangement and commenced distance learning as they waited to travel to Finland for in-person classes. Others obtained visas and were waiting to join the universities both last and this year.

“We have negotiated with universities for an extension of the fee due dates”

It however turned out that officials of the county who also acted as trustees to the account did not transfer the money to the universities precipitating the current crisis. The universities’ officials have visited Kenya for negotiations, amid demand letters to the County government and threats of expulsion.

“We have negotiated with universities for an extension of the fee due dates. We have also discussed and reminded the parents that payment of fees is their responsibility,” Uasin Gishu governor Jonathan Bii is quoted saying in the local media.

It has also emerged that the money was fraudulently withdrawn from the account without being paid to the Finnish institutions, in a scandal that has shocked the country and which has attracted forensic investigations from national anti-corruption agencies.

As a result, stop-gap measures, including negotiating for an understanding with the institutions and with local lenders to advance loans to parents, are being considered.

“We have engaged with financial institutions, and some are willing to offer a soft loan to parents who are willing to pay fees for their children,” Bii said in a statement.

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International students in Tunisia are afraid to go to classes following a wave of racially-motivated attacks, a student association warned last week. 

The violence began after a speech from Tunisian president Kais Saied in February, in which he said “hordes” of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa were bringing “violence, crime and unacceptable practices” to Tunisia and conspiring to make the country less Arab. 

There are approximately 7,000 Sub-Saharan African students in Tunisia, some of whom were caught up in the brutality.

After Saied’s speech, which has been widely condemned internationally, mobs took to the streets to attack black migrants, including students, while police detained and deported others, with over 40 students reportedly arrested.

Christian Kwongang, president of AESAT, an association for African students and trainees in Tunisia, said in the wake of the outbreak that students feel unsafe travelling to class for fear of being attacked.

Countries including Mali, Guinea and the Ivory Coast have begun voluntary repatriations of their citizens in Tunisia. One student association told Africa news that 30 students had signed up for a repatriation flight to Ivory Coast despite having permits to stay in Tunisia.  

After initially denying racism, the Tunisian authorities released a statement on March 5, describing Africans as “brothers” and introducing new measures for Sub-Saharan Africans in the country, including residence cards for students. 

But organisations including Human Rights Watch said the measures fail to go far enough as violence continues in the country. 

Two Congolese students were attacked on the same day the statement was released, according to AESAT. The group urged students to be “extremely careful” when travelling to university and many are now studying online to avoid leaving their homes. 

The ESPIRIT Group, a private higher education provider in Tunisia, allowed its 395 Sub-Sarahan African students to learn online while the situation unfolded, alongside other measures including establishing a helpline and ensuring a psychologist was available to support students.

“We recognise the value of diversity and are committed to promoting tolerance”

The institution also organised a meeting for Sub-Saharan students to “reiterate our unwavering support for our international students”, according to Lamjed Bettaieb, deputy general manager of ESPIRIT Group, which is part of Honoris United Universities.

“We recognise the value of diversity and are committed to promoting tolerance, understanding, and mutual respect,” Bettaieb said. “We will continue to put the safety and well-being of our students at the forefront of our mission.”

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Canada’s language sector is confident that the country will revise its study and work policy to benefit language students both financially and pedagogically.

The country’s organisation representing two official languages – English and French – Languages Canada is working closely with government to update the regulation around access to work for some language students.

“There is a willing [in government] to look at changes,” executive director, Gonzalo Peralta, told The PIE. While amendments would be expected to take nine months to implement, Languages Canada is in conversation with officials within IRCC to proceed.

Currently, language students enrolled in an English or French as a second language program are not eligible to work off-campus in Canada while they are studying.

Changing existing regulations would allow some language students access to work to benefit Canada, students and Languages Canada members alike, Peralta emphasised.

“We want to provide a complete and full offer to language students”

“This is not about opening the floodgates for people to come and learn a language and have access to work,” he said. “This is about meeting the needs of Canada and supporting students appropriately.

“We are in conversations with the minister’s office and with senior officials in IRCC. And I think that there is a willingness to look at changes for a number of reasons and they get our reasons behind this.”

Changes would give the language sector parity with other segments of the country’s wider education market, he continued.

“But really the major reason is because we want to provide a complete and full offer to language students and we want to contribute to Canada’s growth and development.

“Language learning is contextually driven. The reason why people travel to learn the language is – living with a Canadian family or working and so on – that’s where the final steps in language learning takes place. This isn’t simply a financial issue. This is also an educational and pedagogical issue that we’re fighting for,” he said.

However any changes to the rule would have to be well thought through and should ensure benefits for students, schools and Canada as a whole. The immigration piece is an area where the language sector could have a significant part to play, Peralta suggested.

“We need a half a million immigrants every year,” he said, and language skills are one point of complaint for employers.

As such, a “far more targeted, integrated and collaborative approach” between Canada’s language sector and other sectors is where Languages Canada expects to make inroads.

“Sometimes [foreign workers] are not properly integrated. They’re a vulnerable population, just like students, so we want to do it the right way,” he said.

One pilot the organisation is leading is together with Tourism HR Canada – a sector that is in need of 10,000 workers and an organisation that presented at Languages Canada’s recent conference.

“We’re putting together a proposal [for government] to head out and seek candidates for a program that would match their very specific profiles,” he said, placing integration at the heart of the initiative.

“Language, society, culture, transportation, banking, social networks, all of these aspects which Languages Canada members do best and are so important to success of people coming here.

“So they would go through their language and integration program and then go on to jobs in hotels and other tourism and hospitality businesses that need them right across the country. It’s everywhere from Victoria to Halifax. The thing is for that just to go ahead, the regulation needs to change.”

The opportunity came to light during the pandemic when all hotel rooms in Nova Scotia sell out as a result of the ‘Study Safe Corridor’.

“Hotel associations were very grateful and they started paying attention. And so we saw a lot of similarities between the two sectors,” he continued, pointing to the sectors’ seasonal natures along with the mobility involved.

While Canada’s visa backlog is “mostly resolved”, delays last year hurt Languages Canada’s members, Peralta added.

“We think that the context has changed and it is the right time to ask cabinet for an amendment”

As student visas were prioritised ahead of tourist visas – students on tourist visas make up around half of members’ enrolments – student numbers were 20% below expectation, he explained.

While the regulatory change has not yet been announced or launched, Languages Canada noted that initial signs are “very positive”.

Others in the sector have said that, once launched, the work and study rights will “be a real game changer for language schools in Canada”.

Languages Canada has been pressing for a change for several years, but suggested the government is now more receptive. Last year, the government revealed the temporary lifting of work limits for other student cohorts until December 31, 2023.

“We’re going to be able to learn some lessons over the course of the next year, and we’re going to be able to determine whether this is the kind of thing we can look at doing for a longer period of time,” Canada’s immigration minister Sean Fraser said at the time.

“We think that the context has changed and it is the right time to go back to cabinet and ask for an amendment to the regulations,” Peralta added.

“What it means for providers is expanding their offer, of course, both quantitatively and qualitatively. But even beyond that, it means being an integral part of the Canadian conversation on immigration, labour, education and tourism.”

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It had always been my dad’s dream for his daughter to one day go to an elite university.

Coming from an ultra-humble background in East Germany – which had just emerged from the Soviet era – and my parents going through multiple unemployed periods when I was growing up, the thought of ever going to Harvard, Yale or Oxford seemed surreal.

If it could be achieved, though, it would hold limitless opportunities.

After a successful bachelors at University of Zurich and a summer school at Oxford, I was accepted at Oxford University in 2013 for my MSc. I was over the moon. My dad took a loan out to help me attend. It was exhilarating.

I completed my MSc by 2014 and then eventually went into the NHS, quickly reaching senior management.

Why am I sharing all of this? Because this all looks good on paper, right?

Whilst this has indeed been my life, the reality of living this life is a whole other story. I have long been plagued with a constant need for authenticity but I never had the self-confidence to back it up.

I was afraid of judgement, needed approval from others, and relied on praise and shoutouts to feel I had done a good job. The dipping in my performance at Oxford following high grades in Zurich felt made me feel like I was a failure. The huge ask of attending Oxford, and my average grades, gave me physical symptoms of anxiety – panic attacks, insomnia, and reliance on beta blockers to stay calm.

Our exam format of learning – by heart – 100+ references of academic papers and trying to retrieve them in two three-hour exams would determine whether £30,000 was worth it. It was not my learning style at all, which didn’t help. Not fitting in at all with my classmates at Oxford made me feel like an outcast. I felt lonely, and different – not the good kind. I felt a lot of FOMO.

“Not fitting in at all with my class mates at Oxford made me feel like an outcast”

Outside of the academic world, I had body image issues, worrying about my eating, my exercise, never quite feeling beautiful or happy in my own skin. My wonderful partner at the time was my main source of comfort as I was busy hiding from the world.

I didn’t fit in anywhere. Needless to say, all these challenges undermined my mental health; I had anxiety issues, and I felt depressed.

It was overwhelming to think that, in order to overcome all these challenges, I would need to tackle them individually at some point – “oh my gosh, that will be so much work”, I thought. I didn’t know where to start.

I went through the typical motions, tried to “fix my issues” through skills building. I went to therapy which, in my case, was endless, non-conclusive and involved relentless digging in my past with no solutions. Mentoring later in my career was helpful but really just added to my issues.

I stumbled over coaching; my colleague at the time was a certified coach. Six sessions, she said; that’s it. My goal at the time was to get ahead in my career. What I didn’t know was that these sessions were effectively an accelerator for myself, my personal development, and, ultimately, my self-confidence.

Until that point, I never consciously clocked self-confidence to be something to focus on. In fact, I had shied away from it thinking it was the same as arrogance, or that you could have “too much” self-confidence. I didn’t want that.

What happened next was that my now sustainable, high self-confidence helped me overcome all the issues above at once. Right there. No more symptom fighting, no more “feeling bad for feeling bad”, no more deficiency, thinking “why can’t I do that”. No.

New Nadine was born, and it was a day and night experience.

This was the beginning of what has eventually, several years later, become HopStair, a self-confidence building platform to help many other people develop their self-confidence effectively and efficiently – ideally in much less time than it took me.

Self-confidence isn’t just a nice thing to have, and it’s not a by-product of something else – it’s the strength you need to build and we need to foster in others.

This will uniquely take care, to a large degree, of all of the following, and more – anxiety; depressive symptoms; believing in yourself; appreciating yourself; stress management; building strong relationships; FOMO; dealing with feedback; overcoming envy; craving praise and compliments; overthinking; beating yourself up and worrying about mistakes; and body image issues.

All of these stem, to a huge degree, from a lack of internal validation and a constant fear of judgement; what others think, what others will say, whether others will approve, whilst one is in constant pursuit of chasing the expectations – real or perceived – of others.

“It is important to note that self-confidence doesn’t mean being indifferent or ignorant”

This external focus undermines the critical focus on oneself, one’s own passions, strengths, motivators, ambitions, goals, timelines. It’s only when you identify these that you can really unlock personal fulfilment and happiness. But the key is self-confidence.

So what does self-confidence include?

True inner authentic self-confidence consists of: self belief; self respect; self love; self esteem; and self efficacy. Like the root of a tree, it’s your foundation; it’s what allows you to face and handle challenges, judgement, curveballs, and unapologetically be you – and live life how you want to live it, and with what matters to you.

Ultimately, feedback and thoughts and suggestions from around us are vital but there is a level that’s too little – i.e., we are unaware how we really come across – and too much – i.e., we let other people’s opinions distract us, we let it get us down or deter us, we don’t trust ourselves.

It is important to note that self-confidence doesn’t mean being indifferent or ignorant, but to work constructively with other people, their opinions and their judgements.

About the author: Nadine Pfeifer is the founder and CEO of HopStair, an app that uses behavioural science to help users build their own self-confidence. It is about to embark on a focused period of intense pilot work of its latest product version with several UK and US universities and other providers in the educational sector. Interested in piloting HopStair with your students, staff or clients? You can reach HopStair through hopstair.com or email Pfeifer at nadine.pfeifer@hopstair.com

The post Self-confidence – how academic achievement isn’t always the answer appeared first on The PIE News.

Indian students that have studied overseas risk unemployment after returning home unless they are provided with specific support, Canada-based education management company M Square Media has warned.

Although studying abroad is regarded as a secure pathway to professional success in India, research indicates that finding a job after coming back home may be a critical challenge, the company suggested.

Indian Education ministry figures show that 750,365 Indian students went abroad to study in 2022, as reported by the Hindustan Times – a 68% increase compared to the 2021 value of 444,553.

“It is our responsibility to provide resources, guidance and support students need to succeed in their careers”

However, MSM has cited a government report stating that only 22% of Indian students who studied abroad between 2015 and 2019 were able to secure a professional position after returning home.

Sanjay Laul, CEO and founder of MSM, emphasised that students “must be aware of the potential challenges they may face when returning home”.

“As stakeholders in international education, it is our responsibility to provide students with the resources, guidance and support they need to succeed in their careers,” he said.

“This may involve developing partnerships with local employers, promoting cross-cultural communication and understanding, and fostering alumni networks to help students build their professional connections.” he added.

“By working together, we can ensure that studying abroad remains a valuable and rewarding experience for students, both during and after their education.”

One obstacle is the lack of recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas in the national job market, paired with “ambivalence” from Indian employers towards internationally-educated Indian graduates who often prefer to hire Indian-educated people.

The pandemic has led some businesses to be inclined to select local applicants due to travel restrictions and public health concerns and has also resulted in companies scaling down hiring.

“Several or many Indians end up going for or enrolling on shoddy courses that probably have no future,” Adarsh Khandelwal, CEO of education services firm Collegify, told The PIE.

“One third of the students we counsel are just random in terms of decision-making; country, course, etc…they are misguided by agents.

“They are told they can support themselves by part-time work and even get scholarships. A lot of them come from the middle class with hefty loans, which is not even reported. Also, when they come back on heavy duty loans they start from a very low package or may not find an appropriate or sustainable job,” he added.

Stakeholders have often called on students to gain internships or part-time work experiences during their studies to enhance their employability, as well as capitalising on career-advice services, mentorship programs and alumni networks to create employment links.

However, with more multinational companies increasing their presence in India, students who study abroad will get more options to work back home, according to Karan Gupta, career counsellor and head of KGC.

“When these students come with work experience after studying abroad, they are in a better position to get meaningful jobs in India,” he told The PIE.

“In the end, private companies in India value students who bring cultural diversity to the work place and students who study abroad have this distinct advantage. To work in government companies students should get their foreign degrees evaluated by accrediting bodies in India.”

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A new company based in Australia is bidding to streamline international tuition fee and commission payments, and make the process more affordable.

The Qualy platform – created by former EducationLink founder and product specialist at ApplyBoard and then Edvisor, Raphael Arias – allows schools to send digital payment reminders, collect payments and send agents’ commissions in real-time.

While many software systems and portals help students and colleges manage enrolment, students are “often confused in regards to the best way to pay and were being pushed and pulled by both the school and agency to pay them directly”, Arias said of the reason for launching the company.

Previously, receiving payment from students has mostly been a task for an expensive back-office team that would complete the process manually, Qualy maintained.

With no live data shared between schools and agencies, students were commonly chased for payment by one side, when they had already paid to the other side who had not informed their partner.

“This created an even worse student experience,” Arias told The PIE.

Qualy is hoping to help schools and agencies save time on administration work.

The company also noted that transparency and safety in payments is especially required “with the rise in usage of sub-agents, and the potential pitfalls and dangers of the practice”.

With students not always aware whether their agent is working directly with a college or if they are using a sub-agent, money paid “may become a risk, as it’s not accounted for by the school, nor the master agent”.

The platform also clarifies to schools if a commission is payable or not, and simplifies the net payment sending practice where agents withhold their commission and send the remaining amount to the college, which Qualy says is “prone to error, and hard to reconcile within accounting softwares”.

The payment engine provides a range of payment methods for students, and can automatically split payments and transfers funds to the school and agency.

It charges a small fee for each transaction and a monthly platform access fee.

Since its launch, Qualy has been working with selected schools and agencies, allowing the company to gather feedback and add features.

“This solution will provide an opportunity for schools and agencies to work more productively on their relationships”

“We are currently taking expressions of interest from more schools and agencies that want to begin using the platform. Alongside this, we are in discussions with existing student management systems and agency systems who are looking to provide more value to their existing users,” Arias explained.

An FX solution designed to power student payments and school and agency payouts in any currency is launching soon.

“As well as bringing transparency to payments, we know that this solution will provide an opportunity for schools and agencies to work more productively on their relationships,” Arias told The PIE.

“Instead of spending so much time chasing payments and invoices, our users are now able to spend that time planning new strategies to grow their organisations together. And most importantly, to provide an even better, more personal student experience, they are the sole reason we are all here.”

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The latest guidance issued by the US Department of Education last month has many in the international education and study abroad sector on alert.

In the “Dear Colleague Letter” guidance, entitled (GEN-23-03) Requirements and Responsibilities for Third-Party Servicers and Institutions, the definition of third-party servicers has been significantly expanded to include student recruiting and retention services, developing curriculum and course materials, delivering instruction, assessing student learning, and disseminating marketing materials.

Leaders across the sector say these additions will significantly increase the number of third-party providers who will now be subject to additional government oversight.

It also indicates students may not apply Title IV federal aid funding if the servicer or subcontractor is outside the US or owned or operated by someone other than a US citizen or lawful permanent resident of the US.

Speaking with The PIE News, vice president for revenue planning and institutional positioning at 3 Enrollment Marketing, Inc, Bryan Gross asserted that it could have huge implications.

“In the experience I have had with institutions and the use of [online program management], most schools are very diligent about remaining in compliance with current regulations and requirements when it comes to Title IV funds,” the former executive board member at AIRC said.

“The potential for negative impact on [study abroad] cannot be overstated”

Melissa Torres, president & CEO of The Forum on Education Abroad, told The PIE, if the guidance takes effect as currently written, “the potential for negative impact on the ability of colleges and universities to provide high quality education abroad experiences for their students cannot be overstated”.

She predicted the result would likely be a “complete halt to the participation of students receiving Title IV funding, which could negatively impact their retention and graduation rates, since study abroad is widely recognised as a High Impact Practice”.

Likewise, Sara Dart, senior vice president of Education in Ireland shared her concerns with the PIE about the potential global impact this guidance could have on the entire study abroad “ecosystem”.

“It has the potential to negatively affect every type of mobility from faculty-led programs supported by small local providers to long-standing bilateral exchange agreements,” she said.

Webster University’s assistant vice president for international enrolment, Samrat Ray Chaudhuri, talked with The PIE about the both the potential impact on international recruitment and on TNE.

“Overseas campuses of US universities, which partner with a foreign university or a foreign government, often use services including recruitment as part of their overseas operations,” he stated.

“The new DOE guideline does not clarify how such institutional partnerships will survive, since the partner institutions are not owned and operated by US citizens or permanent residents,” he continued.

Chaudhuri said many small colleges and tuition-driven private universities depend on agents to recruit international students and suggested moving to a direct recruitment approach would likely prove extremely difficult.

He indicated the cost-prohibitive factors of HEIs employing their own recruiters overseas or regularly sending their teams abroad. “This is very expensive and will not be possible for smaller colleges and universities from a sustainability perspective.”

Chaudhuri said, in some countries, parents and students want to meet agents in person. “It is a culturally essential aspect to build trust. Particularly if the institution does not have a big brand-name.”

The University of Delaware’s director of international admissions, Song Hoffman, agreed. “International recruitment agencies, especially some ‘boutique’ ones, can often serve as great connectors between parents, students, and institutions, reducing culture and language barriers,” she told The PIE.

As such, if the guidance remains intact, with so much competition with countries that allow international recruiters, Chaudhuri predicted it could be “a free-fall for US international numbers”.

Dart expressed a deep concern about the equity factor, asserting the new guidance “has the potential to significantly widen the already existing access gap”.

“Education abroad should be clearly and unequivocally be excluded from this guidance”

She noted that studying abroad “is already outside the means of many students and restricting access to Title IV funding will only exacerbate this, leaving study abroad accessible only to those who have the funds to pay out of pocket”.

Likewise, Torres argued, “Education abroad should be clearly and unequivocally be excluded from this guidance so that students who rely on federal financial aid – students who are often from underrepresented and underserved populations – are not disadvantaged from their peers.”

The US DOE has extended the period for public comment until 28 March, with the guidance slated to go into effect on September 1.

The Forum on Education Abroad has scheduled a webinar for its members on Friday, March 17, and to date, over 700 participants are registered to attend.

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The Irish Immigration Authority has approved Learning Resource Network’s International English Language Competency Assessment for use in student visa applications.

The qualification – assessing reading, listening, speaking and writing – allows students to demonstrate to immigration officials that they are capable of routine communication in English.

It offers two routes, Academic and General Training, and is recognised by universities and employers in several countries, such as the UK, Malta and Spain.

The testing provider is the latest to gain recognition by the authority to operate language testing for immigration purposes. Other providers include Cambridge English, IELTS and Pearson, among others.

“We are delighted to have received approval from the Irish Immigration Authority,” said LRN CEO Muhammad Tariq.

The test – recognised by UK universities such as Universities of Bradford, East London, Greenwich, Plymouth, Bangor and Brunel, as well as the Italian ministry of education – is available in 58 countries worldwide.

“LRN is looking forward to working alongside it wide stakeholder network in providing opportunities to international students to study and work in an English-speaking environment.”

In 2022, LRN signed an agreement in Pakistan that could see its qualifications reach more than 5,000 individuals in 2023.

Skills for English tests were approved for Irish visa applications in May 2022, as were Duolingo’s language exams in 2021.

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