Understanding International Students

Last Updated on August 27, 2023

Understanding their Decision Making

Hobsons released a report called Beyond the data: Influencing international student decision making. The report is based on Hobsons’ International Student Survey and provides important insights into how international students decide where they will go for study abroad.

For the survey, Hobsons partnered with 16 universities from across the UK and Australia to ask questions of 100,000 of their prospective, current, and past students. They received 18,393 responses across 195 countries and 198 nationalities.

Given its methodology, the survey was oriented toward the recruitment environments in the UK and Australia, but many of its findings are instructive for education institutions and recruiters everywhere.

The entire report covers:

• International students’ perceptions and expectations;
• The difference between what these students say and actually do;
• The heterogeneity of target audiences (there are international student profiles, plural);
• The value international students put on teaching quality as well as what this term (which can be vague) means to them.

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