China is the largest sending country for international students globally, with over 1.6 million Chinese students pursuing higher education abroad prior to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Chinese students applying to overseas institutions are facing an increasingly complex set of challenges due to the pandemic.

In addition to the pre-existing obstacles such as language barriers, differences in education systems, and difficulties adapting to new cultures, the pandemic has exacerbated the stress and difficulties faced by this population. Additionally, geopolitical tensions and travel restrictions can also make it difficult for Chinese students to pursue their academic aspirations abroad.

All of these factors highlight the importance of providing support and resources for Chinese students as they navigate the complex and ever-changing landscape of international education.

The China Institute of College Admission Counseling recently conducted a study aimed at gathering high school students’ application data, evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment by overseas universities, and identifying challenges that high school college counsellors face in guiding Chinese students towards their future academic pursuits abroad.

The ChinaICAC Annual Guidance Counselor Report presents compelling insights into the current trends in Chinese students’ higher education pursuits. Based on data collected from 121 counsellors representing 91 high schools, the report reveals several significant findings.

The surveyed Chinese high school graduating class is expected to increase by 14% over the next two years. Additionally, the report identifies the top three popular fields of study of the graduating class of 2022 as STEM, Business, and Social Sciences.

Unsurprisingly, the United States remained the most sought-after destination for Chinese students to study abroad, followed by the UK. However, Asian countries also emerged as the third most popular destination among seniors.

Moreover, the report highlights a growing trend of students applying to colleges and universities in multiple countries or regions. Notably, 71% of counsellors observed an increase in the number of students and parents inquiring about global campuses (such as NYU Shanghai) in China.

The report highlights the top three factors that influence Chinese students when selecting an institution to apply to are rankings, academic programs, and location. It also reveals that the class of 2022 has pressing concerns, including mental wellness, Covid-19 disruptions, and academic challenges.

These insights are crucial in guiding counsellors and admissions officers in providing the necessary resources and support to ensure student success in their academic pursuits.

The report also entails an important part on the experience of guidance counsellors in China.

Guidance counsellors play a crucial role in helping students navigate the college admissions process. They provide students with guidance and support as they make important decisions about their academic and professional futures. However, the demands of the job can take a toll on their mental wellness.

“62% of counsellors rated their stress level as high, with a score of 4 or 5 on the stress scale”

This is also why the ChinaICAC Annual Guidance Counselor Report is important in advocating for the needs of the high school guidance counsellors. One of the most important findings of the report is the high level of stress experienced by guidance counsellors.

According to the survey, 62% of counsellors rated their stress level as high, with a score of 4 or 5 (5 being the most stressful) on the stress scale. This is a cause for concern, as high levels of stress can lead to burnout, which can ultimately harm the counsellor’s ability to help students.

The report calls for resources and support to counsellors to manage stress and prioritise self-care.

In addition to these key findings, the report also offers valuable perspectives from counsellors on the most effective ways for universities to recruit Chinese students. This information can aid institutions in tailoring their recruitment strategies to better connect with and attract potential students from China.

The full report will be presented during the fifth ChinaICAC annual conference on April 27-28, 2023, making it a significant resource for college admission counsellors, educators, and administrators.

The ChinaICAC Research, Scholarship, and Learning Committee is dedicated to advancing the field of international education by providing data and resources to support educators and promote transparency. With a focus on promoting best practices and evidence-based decision-making, the committee strives to provide valuable insights and information to all members of the international education ecosystem.

By leveraging data and promoting transparency, the committee aims to create a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing that benefits students and the broader community. The ChinaICAC invites international educators to join the annual report release session.

About the author: Yanjie (Ruby) Cheng is director of International Enrollment Program, APAC in the Office of Admissions at University of Colorado Colorado Springs.

ChinaICAC is committed to developing the professionalism of all school-based counsellors in China by providing a wealth of networking and learning opportunities including but not limited to webinars, workshops, and conferences.  ChinaICAC also effectively brings together high school counsellors serving Chinese nationals and college admission officers. The organisation currently has over 350 high school counsellors and college admission officers.

The post Unpacking the factors driving Chinese student mobility abroad appeared first on The PIE News.

UK English language providers are grappling with a housing shortage, with stakeholders saying they are being pushed out by universities who have enrolled record numbers of international students.

ELT competitors in the UK are collaborating to find available accommodation for visiting students as demand outstrips supply in key language learning cities.

“There is a problem with the lack of supply of accommodation and host families,” Sam Bufton from Bell English told The PIE. English language providers are going to need to reconsider their accommodation processes, he suggested.

“We’re going to have to recruit [hosts], we’re going to have to prepay for more accommodation up front earlier and probably take it for longer term,” he said.

“Whereas before the accommodation providers would allow language schools to take it on an adhoc basis now, they’ve got demand from universities to take all nine months, all upfront. If we want access to those rooms, those terms are now becoming the same.”

That would mean more risk for language schools, he continued, as ELT has not traditionally paid for accommodation from September round to August upfront.

“It’s not what language schools do, so it’s a risk. It’s the worst of both worlds, really. You can’t get the volume in unless you take the risk in accommodation. If you don’t take the risk in the accommodation, you can’t fulfil the demand,” he said.

Andrew Ballam-Davies from Hosts International told The PIE that during the pandemic hosts converted spare rooms to offices. The move to hybrid working means some have not returned to offer language students housing.

“There was also some fear from hosts about having strangers in the house [during the pandemic],” he said – an issue that is beginning to change.

“You can’t get the volume in unless you take the risk in accommodation”

Homeowners are recognising, especially during the cost of living crisis, the “significant” financial gain of hosting international students, he said.

Others The PIE spoke to suggested that the perception of hosting accommodation needs to be reconsidered by the wider sector.

“[Hosts] shouldn’t be viewed as the ‘cheaper option’,” one stakeholder said.

It is not only the UK language sector that is suffering from accommodation shortages. The PIE reported on homestay shortages in Canada hitting enrolments in early 2022.

Ireland is also in the midst of an accommodation crisis.

“There aren’t enough accommodation for the number of people coming into Ireland,” Justin Quinn from CES told The PIE during StudyWorld in London. “It’ll level out over the next couple of years.

“We’re all adapting to what we have to do. We’re taking more residential beds and we’re investing more in accommodation, we’re investing more in student residences. It’s an expensive investment, a long-term investment, but we’re doing it and we hopefully it’ll pay off over the next few years.”

The post ELT missing out on housing amid host shortage appeared first on The PIE News.

Policies in the UK introduced as a result of the country leaving the European Union are limiting growth in English language numbers, with Ireland and Malta gaining marketshare, according to stakeholders.

While the UK sector continues to recover “gradually” following the pandemic, the UK government could apply measures and initiatives to aid its return, schools say.

There are worries that school groups are opting to study in other English-speaking destinations. English UK, representing 450+ schools in the country, highlighted that it is not only the cost associated with having to obtain passports post Brexit that is leading learners to look elsewhere.

Chief executive of English UK, Jodie Gray, said students are “definitely” choosing Ireland due to the current UK visa regime.

The TourismAlliance, along with English UK, continues to push for a collective passport option, which would allow school groups containing a mix of EU citizens as well as third-country nationals that have resettled in the EU.

Inclusivity requirements in some EU countries – such as a 10% limit in Germany – mean school groups cannot choose English language providers that exclude some individuals who may not have passports or have third-country papers, Gray told The PIE at StudyWorld in London on March 9.

“They are no immigration risk whatsoever”

Previous English UK data from late 2022 has showed a 83% drop in junior groups to the UK compared with 2019.

“They are 14-year olds coming to the UK to study,” Gray said. “They are no [immigration] risk whatsoever.”

The eligible countries included in the Youth Mobility Scheme for 18-30 year olds could also be extended to include key countries, she said.

Justin Quinn, chief executive officer at Centre of English Studies, noted that Ireland is “doing remarkably well”, but emphasised that the country is not only benefiting from Brexit.

“We’ve had a very large upswing in business, particularly in the 25-week study and work programs, for students coming from all areas of South America and from Turkey,” he explained. “That gives us a continuity of supply.”

Additionally, Ireland’s over €13 an hour minimum wage makes the country “very attractive”.

“Over the last five years, Ireland has created 600,000 new jobs, of which 300,000 are being taken up by international people who’ve come into the country. It’s a very good country to be working and living and studying in,” he said. “You can see why there are so many students travelling to Ireland.”

“Malta is definitely doing very well and I can see absolutely no positives coming out of Brexit for our industry,” Andrew Mangion, executive chairman and CEO of EC English Language Centres, also told The PIE News.

The island nation in the Mediterranean also benefits from its weather, in addition to being more affordable, Quinn continued.

“They do very good rates for long-term good quality programs, and you’ve got the sun,” he said.

“Unfortunately in the UK, we don’t see the same number of adult students coming through. There seems to be a reticence to come over to the UK. I think Brexit has had an impact… but thankfully our young learner winter business has come back with a bang.”

The importance widening the Youth Mobility Scheme to include EU countries is important as previously schools could source staff from the EU, English UK maintained. Many are now concerned that they will not have sufficient staff in 2023, especially for summer programs, stakeholders have warned.

Asked how providers can rebuild the pipeline of staff and teachers and where they are going to come from, Sam Bufton, sales and marketing director at Bell English, replied simply, “Well, exactly. Excellent point”.

While the provider has “been lucky” retain key staff for its young learning program, recruiting “specifically for young learner courses, activity leaders, people to help with airport coordinators” is really hard, he told The PIE

“[They] previously came from Europe. That is one of those Brexit dividends we’re all enjoying. The fact that we can’t hire hardworking, dedicated people like we used to.”

International House is one provider looking to make headway with a IH portal, launching in April, to offer lifelong learning opportunities for ELT teachers to support educators.

In the UK, CES has been able to fill most of its schools and keep teachers and administration teams employed.

“Honestly, I expect a strong 2024 for the UK”

“We see us getting much stronger in 2023,” Quinn added. “And honestly, I expect a strong 2024 for the UK. I think things will change. UK is going to knock itself back on the market. I was in Italy last week, huge interest in the UK, summer, end of the year, a lot more enquiries than this time last year. So very confident for the UK.”

The fact that European students can no longer supplement their ELT programs with paid work experience, however not only “makes life just that little bit more difficult”,  but is “another impediment to students coming to the UK”, he acknowledged.

“One of the issues is that traditionally an Italian or a Spanish or a French or a German student could come to the UK, do a language program, work in Pret a manger, or get a job in Costa, extend their stay. And that’s all gone,” he said.

“They look at Ireland [where] they’re allowed to work,” Quinn said, where the adult school is “more or less” full. Ireland is facing its own difficulties, in its accommodation crisis.

Stakeholders are also concerned about shortages in accommodation in the UK, particularly among host families, limiting the recovery of the sector.

However, recent figures from English UK showed that a 44% rise in student weeks in Q4 2022 compared to the same time in the previous year. UK stakeholders are optimistic for the year ahead.

For many of the recommendations English UK is making to government, there is “no objection [from authorities] but it needs to be dealt with”, Gray concluded.

“[But] the home secretary Suella Braverman is focused elsewhere,” she adding, pointing to the ‘small boats’ that prime minister Rishi Sunak is prioritising. English UK is beginning to refocus its lobbying efforts on the Labour Party, which polls suggest is likely to win the next general election that has to take place by December 2024.

The post UK ELT bullish for future but Brexit headaches linger appeared first on The PIE News.

At University College Dublin, International Women’s Day was even more significant this year with the historic appointment of the university’s first woman president in its 169-year history.

UCD is Ireland’s largest university with over 38,000 students and is ranked within the top 1% of higher education institutions worldwide.

On February 21, Marie O’Connor, chair of the UCD governing authority, announced the appointment of Orla Feely as president of UCD for a 10-year term. Feely is currently serving as the vice-president for research, innovation, and impact at UCD.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to attend university”

In welcoming her to the role, O’Connor praised Feely’s leadership, teaching, and research credentials.

“Professor Orla Feely is an exceptional person who has the drive and ambition to lead UCD as a public university that values its community, sets standards, and embraces wider participation in order to make a real impact on society,” O’Connor said.

Feely earned her bachelor’s degree at UCD, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been part of UCD’s management team since 2014 and, with her guidance, the university dramatically increased its number of research grants, exceeding €155 million in grant funding last year alone.

“UCD has had an extraordinary influence on the development of modern Ireland,”Feely told The PIE News.

“Our role in Ireland is still very important to us, but it is now complemented by a very strong global presence. I want to grow the many ways in which we make a clear positive difference to the lives of our students and to the broader world at this time of enormous disruptive change.”

Indeed, UCD is Ireland’s most globally engaged university with 29% of its students coming from over 150 countries, which includes 5,000 students studying at one of the university’s five global centres outside of Ireland. A third of faculty members are also international.

A champion for the advancement of women, Feely has led the development of two gender equality action plans for UCD.

She is also a strong believer in the power of university education and in the importance of wide access to its transformative opportunities. A first-generation student herself, Feely strives to increase access for all learners.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to attend university, a privilege not available to my parents or any previous generations in my family, and to do so at a time when women were starting to enter the engineering profession in reasonable numbers,” she told The PIE.

Feely will assume the presidency this May, replacing Mark Rogers, who has served as the acting president for the past year

The post UCD appoints first female president in 169 years appeared first on The PIE News.

German universities should expand English language courses to recruit more international students and help fill labour shortages, the country’s academic exchange service has said. 

Germany is suffering from a skills shortage while simultaneously attracting increasing numbers of international students, according to DAAD president Joybrato Mukherjee. 

“We need to think about both developments together and show international students more effectively and in greater numbers the path to a professional career in Germany,” he said. 

“They are highly qualified and well-integrated, and we should make more strategic use of their exciting potential as skilled workers in Germany.” 

Germany’s latest skilled labour survey predicted there would be around 240,000 more vacancies in 2026 than there will be workers available. 

Reflecting on the survey last autumn, Hubertus Heil, Germany’s minister of labour and social affairs, said securing skilled labour is one of the country’s “most urgent tasks”. 

The country’s new skilled labour strategy, launched in September 2022, calls for the creation of a modern immigration policy and the strategy mentions international students as “particularly attractive” for the German labour market. 

“We should make more strategic use of their exciting potential as skilled workers”

In a new policy paper, DAAD sets out the obstacles preventing international students from entering Germany’s skilled labour market, including high dropout rates.  

The organisation calls for more to be done to grow the number of international students in the country, improve their completion rates and support them to transition to the workforce. Mukherjee said politicians, universities and businesses have a “joint responsibility” for making this happen. 

In order to recruit more international students, DAAD recommends that English-taught courses should be expanded and accompanied by German language courses.

There should also be more digital information available about admissions to German universities and the integration of international students into the country’s labour market should begin during studies and be consistently promoted.   

Universities should design courses around the needs of employers and businesses should “systematically” consider international students in their recruitment processes, the academic exchange organisation recommended. 

Currently more than 50,000 international students complete their studies in Germany each year, and around half of them are enrolled on STEM courses – an area in demand by employers. 

Ten years after successfully completing their studies, around a third of them are still living and working in Germany, equating to approximately 25,000 international graduates entering the labour market as skilled workers each year. 

DAAD estimates this number could double by 2030 if the right actions are taken. 

The organisation said it is aware of fair migration principles, including the risk of brain-drain, and that policies should be a “win-win” for individuals, the country of origin and the host country. 

Germany is currently one of the leading OECD countries when it comes to the retention of international students, with over 60% of the international students who obtained a study visa in 2015 were still present in the country in 2020. 

Congratulations to India’s #NationalScienceDay !

So many Indian students go to Germany. But sometimes, it’s also the other way around.

I met German student Jil from Delhi University and asked her about her experience in India. pic.twitter.com/PJLgqPjsfa

— Dr Philipp Ackermann (@AmbAckermann) February 28, 2023

On a visit to India in February, which aimed to boost economic ties with the EU, German chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed skills shortages and encouraged software and IT workers to consider migrating to Germany. 

Prior to his visit, government adviser Jens Plotner told press, “Indian students are welcomed in Germany. We are aware that the waiting time [for visas] is long. The embassy is working on it.”

The post Germany: boost English courses to ‘fix’ skill shortage appeared first on The PIE News.

There is a global push to increase the number of women pursuing careers in STEM fields. This challenge was underscored at the World Assembly for Women Conference held in Tokyo this winter.

This month, to coincide with International Women’s Day, the office of global communications within the prime minister of Japan’s cabinet, hosted a webinar aimed at highlighting the gender disparity in STEM careers and to showcase accomplishments of leading females in the sector.

The panel of STEM experts was moderated by Yumiko Murakami, general partner at MPower Partners, and panelists included researchers from the MIT, University of Toronto and UNICEF.

Experts addressed the causes and potential solutions to increase the number of women who study STEM at university and who then transition to relevant fields post-graduation.

Panellists agreed that a universal barrier to mitigating the gender imbalance was largely related to mindset.

MIT’s Nergis Mavalvala called for a rebranding of STEM that includes an emphasis on social impact so young women may connect to initiatives more and can better “visualise their success”.

Likewise, University of Toronto’s Rie Kijima, who co-founded SKY Labo, advocated for near-peer mentorships so that young women can start to envision themselves as scientists. Students should also be able to connect with women currently working in STEM to form a better understanding of what those roles entail.

The University of Toronto, for example, sees students interview female STEM leaders working at large multinational corporations.

“Through their conversations, the students learn to live vicariously through the experiences of these STEM leaders,” Kijima said.

“The Japanese government is allocating more resources to universities that promote women as presidents and vice presidents”

UNICEF’s regional director for Asia Pacific, Debora Comini, emphasised early introduction to STEM careers, highlighting UNICEF’s “Skills4Girls” program for teenage girls.

Comini asserted that these efforts not only require resources, but also the support of government and implored stakeholders to advocate for increased access to STEM funding to policy makers.

Panellists also argued for a more holistic approach that should involve engaging myriad platforms, such as better engaging the home/school connection early on, finding role models in the field, launching social media campaigns, leveraging existing finding sources, and advocating for policy changes.

Keiko Okada, the director-general of the gender equality bureau in the cabinet office of the government of Japan told The PIE News, “The Japanese government is strengthening incentives by allocating more resources to universities that promote women as presidents and vice presidents, as well as working to showcase female role models employed in scientific fields to eliminate unconscious biases such as ‘women are not suited for science’.”

“Japan is committed to increasing the number of women studying and working in STEM,” she added, as well as “promoting women to the top management in these fields”.

The post Japan seeks to promote STEM careers to women appeared first on The PIE News.

Language testing provider PSI has entered into a new partnership with International House World Organisation to offer English tests at the network’s 150 language schools. 

Under the arrangement, IHWO schools, which are located across 50 countries, will be able to offer students access to the Skills for English suite of exams.

These tests are accepted by the UK Home Office for use in visa applications. Skills for English was also approved by the Irish government for study visa applications last year. 

This is PSI’s first partnership with a global organisation of language schools and the testing provider said the move would “support strategic growth plans for Skills for English”.

“This exciting new alliance delivers multiple benefits for IHWO schools and students, while offering commercial opportunities to both IHWO and PSI,” said Henry Tolley, vice president of global English language testing at PSI. 

“We are extending the reach of Skills for English to well over 200,000 students”

“We are extending the reach of Skills for English to well over 200,000 students, supporting their ambitions to learn a new language and study abroad.

“And IHWO member schools are now better able to support their students’ learning goals, while being offered the opportunity to join our growing network of secure PSI Test Centres,” Tolley added. 

Emma Hoyle, IHWO managing director, said the organisation was “delighted” by the partnership. 

“We’re looking forward to working together with the PSI team to support high-quality teaching and assessment of language skills in international education.”

The post PSI to deliver language tests at IHWO schools appeared first on The PIE News.

US immigration plans to phase in premium processing for international students seeking OPT and STEM OPT extensions, two weeks after introducing new measures that allow F-1 visa applications to be lodged further in advance.

Starting March 6, USCIS will support online form processing for certain F-1 students and accept I-907 Form (premium processing) requests from those who have pending I-765 Forms (which are used to apply for employment authorisation).

Premium processing for Form I-765 will allow those who pay extra to receive their employment authorisation decision in 30 days, or the $1,500 fee for the service will be refunded.

This will be valid for both pre and post-completion OPT, as well as STEM OPT recipients looking for a 24 month extension.

On April 3, USCIS will allow international students to apply for premium processing together with their employment authorisation applications.

However, it warned that those in the latter situation should not apply for premium processing before April 3, or else their applications will be rejected and they will need to reapply.

“The ongoing expansion of online filing is a priority for USCIS as we continue to create operational efficiencies and increase access to the immigration system for stakeholders, applicants, petitioners, requestors, and those we serve,” Ur Jaddou, USCIS director, said upon the announcement.

“The availability of premium processing for certain F-1 students, in addition to the ease of online filing, will streamline the immigration experience for a great many international students,” she added.

This expansion has been met with cautious optimism in the sector. NAFSA’s deputy executive director of public policy Jill Allen Murray said she “appreciates USCIS’ attention to eliminating backlogs” considering that the length of OPT is limited.

“Lengthy processing delays can unfairly diminish students’ OPT experience,” Murray told The PIE News. “The availability of premium processing as an option can help address timelines that are unique to F-1 students.”

However, Murray said that premium processing wasn’t the ultimate answer and that USCIS should “streamline and improve the efficiency of its systems to benefit all applicants” – not just those who are able to pay the premium processing fee.

Sherif Barsoum, associate VP for global services within the Steinhardt International Education Program at New York University, agreed that the expense could still be a barrier.

“Premium processing for OPT could be a great option for some students willing to pay the significant expense but at this point our biggest concern is seeing how this impacts regular processing of OPT,” he said to The PIE.

“As long as USCIS OPT processing time remains at the level it’s been over the last several months we welcome other options that could help students in a pinch.

“What we don’t want is for premium processing to become the norm or necessary for any student hoping to get their OPT application approved in time for when they want to start working,” he explained.

But immigration lawyer Ellen Freeman argued that premium processing can help the already difficult situation a lot of international students face and even assist with skills gaps for a time.

“We welcome other options that could help students in a pinch”

“I think even some employers will probably help them pay for this premium processing because American employers are so desperate to get workers. They would much rather spend $1500 dollars and have the employee available to them for training… and available for orientation, because before it was all staggered,” Freeman explained.

She described it as a “wonderful” progress.

The PIE spoke to a student from Nigeria who is currently trying to secure OPT for the first time and is also attempting to secure enough funds to be able to apply for his employment authorisation documents with premium processing.

“The premium processing will enable me to get the authorisation quickly to resume for a role, and still not worry about the OPT counting whether or not I have secured a role,” Emmanuel Alumona said.

“I chose to pursue the OPT to have more practical experiences and apply what I have learned in the classroom to real life situations. I studied special education and I like to think that joy and fulfilment comes from being able to support children in the classroom,” Alumona, who is about to graduate from Vanderbilt University, told The PIE.

The Presidents’ Alliance also called on USCIS to develop other ways of maximising efficiency for all OPT students.

“We’ve been really trying to get the policies to align with opportunities for students to gain valuable work experience after they get their education here and contribute those knowledge and skills back to the communities and economy here,” senior policy advisor Jill Welch said.

“I think there are many more [things] that need to be done. Yes, this can be a good step – what is important is that it be implemented with equity,” she stressed.

Alumona agreed that while USCIS’ approach is largely helpful, especially with the phasing in of the new processes, it still amounts to an expensive undertaking.

“I have been thinking about how to get the $1,500 to pay the processing fee. As an international student, that’s a huge amount of money for me,” he said.

“I chose to pursue the OPT to have more practical experiences and apply what I have learned”

“As we have recently noted… NAFSA recommends that USCIS seek alternative funding sources – namely federal appropriations – and implement efficiencies,” Murray added.

The Presidents’ Alliance also this week asked for the Biden Administration to implement a number of actions across the immigration spectrum to help streamline the process for applications, including recommending that OPT shouldn’t be the only post-graduation work option.

“One thing that we’re asking is that they should allow the use of curricular practical training, to gives international students valuable hands-on experience that’s essential to their career development – possibly outside their degree requirement,” Welch explained.

The post New OPT premium processing met with mixed reaction appeared first on The PIE News.

Australian-based education marketing company Candlefox has announced its expansion to Ireland with the launch of the new platform Allcourses.ie, aiming to help users to find suitable online and in-person learning courses.

The move comes in the wake of the launch of CoursesOnline, the first e-learning platform that Candlefox dedicated to an international audience beyond Australia and New Zealand in 2018, which constituted the first attempt to expand the company’s influence outside its traditional market.

Allcourses.ie is the seventh brand operated by the company and is regarded as a further step in the direction of consolidating Candlefox’s position in the European market.

The target audience Allcourses.ie hopes to appeal to is both educational providers and individual users.

Learning providers are able to use the platform to promote and publicise courses they offer, individual users can browse a wide range of courses and select the one which best fits them on the basis of the professional goals they intend to achieve.

Courses are classified according to their delivery mode – in-person, online or blended learning – and to other criteria such as subject, tuition fee and length of study.

Once students select a course, the platform will put them in contact with the course provider in order to complete the enrolment procedure.

Learners also have access to a wide array of free content focused on career development, skills advancement and updates on the international education sector.

“This is a really exciting step for Candlefox as we continue on our journey to becoming globally synonymous with providing the very best in learning courses,” said Sarah-Jane McQueen, global corporate general manager of Candlefox.

“We’ve had a lot of productive conversations with learning providers from across Ireland who are interested in joining our network, and a number of our existing partners in the UK are keen to extend their offerings towards an Irish audience.

“Our market research left no doubt that there’s a great appetite for learning for professionals across Ireland, and we’re looking forward to helping them fulfil their career aspirations in the near future,” McQueen added.

The post Ireland: Candlefox launches search platform appeared first on The PIE News.