This document summarizes key findings from the 2017 International Student Survey (ISS), the largest survey of pre-enrolled international students. It shows that most international students are influenced by friends or family who have studied abroad. They prefer to communicate with universities using WhatsApp and want excellent teaching over rankings. While many consider the US, Canada and Australia as alternatives to the UK, the 2017 ISS report will provide more details on country preferences and how policies like Trump's travel ban impact student decisions.

1. I n t e r n a t i o n a l a n d E U s t u d e n t s :
I n i t i a l i n s i g h t s f ro m t h e
I n t e r n a t i o n a l S t u d e n t S u r v ey 2 0 1 7
Paul Raybould
Hobsons
London, UK | February 2017

2. # H U E M E A 1 7
Agenda
1. The evolving International Student Survey
2. The power of peers
3. The appetite for social media messaging
4. The alternative country choices
5. The students’ preferences quick quiz
6. The 2017 ISS

3. # H U E M E A 1 7
• The world’s largest survey of pre-enrolled
international and EU students
• Press coverage including BBC News, Times Higher
Education, PIE News, ICEF, Huffington Post and others
• Referenced by MP Paul Blomfield (Chair of the
Universities APPG) in Parliament discussions re the
HE Bill
• The 2017 ISS has over 60,000 respondents and
includes universities from the Netherlands, Germany
and Italy
• Request a copy of the 2017 ISS at
www.internationalstudentsurvey.com/2017 (fill in the
online form and receive your copy when it launches in
April)
The evolving International Student Survey

4. # H U E M E A 1 7
We asked students:
• Do you have any friends or family that have previously or are currently
studying as an international/overseas student?
• Has the experience of your friend(s) and/or family influenced your choice
of country, city, university or course?
The power of peers

5. 24%
56.5%
14.8%
4.6%
23.6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Do you have any friends or family that have previously or are currently studying as
an international/overseas student?
76%
have a friend
and/or family
member(s) that
is/has studied as
an international/
overseas student

6. 31.2%
48%
14.4%
27.8%
23.9%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
Has the experience of your friend(s) and/or family influenced your choice of country,
city, university or course?
69%
say the experience
of friends and
family has
influenced their
choices

9. # H U E M E A 1 7
We asked students:
• Which social media messaging services would you like to use to
communicate with a university you are considering studying at?
The appetite for social media messaging

10. 40.01%
33.65%
19.87%
12.17%
8.97%
6.45% 5.26% 4.97% 3.9% 3.49%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
What proportion of international/overseas students want to converse with
universities via the 10 most popular social media messaging channels?
40%
want to use
WhatsApp to
converse with
universities
Softwares such as
Oratio and Casengo
enable universities to
converse with
students via
WhatsApp and
Facebook Messenger

11. # H U E M E A 1 7
We asked students that had enquired to UK universities:
• Aside from the UK, which other countries are/were you considering?
The alternative country choices

12. 46.6%
40.9%
35.7%
28.4%
18.5%
16.2%
13.5% 12.4% 12%
9.2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Of the international and EU students that have enquired to UK universities, which
other countries are/were they considering?
Is the US still the
number one
alternative choice
post-Trump’s-
travel-ban-
turmoil?
Find out in the
2017 ISS report
internationalstudentsurvey.com
Request a copy online
pre-launch in April
2017

13. The students’ preferences
quick quiz

14. Which of the following did international and EU students say they are
most likely to choose?
A university with high rankingsA A university with excellent
teaching quality
B

15. Which of the following did international and EU students say they are
most likely to choose?
A university with high rankingsA A university with excellent
teaching quality
B
79.6% said:
A university with excellent
teaching quality

16. Which of the following did international and EU students say they are
most likely to choose?
A university offering a higher
value scholarship that is available
to a limited number of students
A
A university offering a lower
value scholarship that is
available to all students
B

17. Which of the following did international and EU students say they are
most likely to choose?
A university offering a higher
value scholarship that is available
to a limited number of students
A
A university offering a lower
value scholarship that is
available to all students
B
51.6% said:
A university offering a higher
value scholarship that is
available to a limited number
of students

18. Which of the following did international and EU students say they are
most likely to choose?
A well-known university with a
lower student satisfaction score
A A lesser-known university with a
higher student satisfaction score
B

19. Which of the following did international and EU students say they are
most likely to choose?
A well-known university with a
low student satisfaction score
A A lesser-known university with a
high student satisfaction score
B
81.1% said:
A lesser-known university
with a higher student
satisfaction score

20. # H U E M E A 1 7
Discover:
• In response to Amber Rudd’s comments re linking visas to ‘course quality’ and
‘university quality’, are international students more likely to use rankings, graduate
outcomes, student satisfaction, TEF ratings or Russell Group membership as
indicators of quality?
• To what extent does the #WeAreInternational campaign improve the perception of
how welcoming the UK is to international students?
• To what extent does Trump’s proposed ‘travel ban’ impact the plans of prospective
international students?
• And which countries do international students consider to the best for quality of
education, graduate outcomes, safety, value for money, lifestyle and most
welcoming.
Request a copy of the 2017 ISS report at
www.internationalstudentsurvey.com
(will be sent upon launch in April)

21. Questions?
www.internationalstudentsurvey.com
Paul.Raybould@hobsons.com
@digipaulr
www.linkedin.com/in/paulraybould1