Over the past 2 and a half years the UKI Forum has conducted research with over 400 students out of the 25,500* international students already studying in the UK. The most recent survey conducted at Padworth College in September provides further insight into their higher education decision making process.
The most significant shift versus previous studies is the growing influence of parents & friends. The recent survey has indicated that parents & friends opinions’ are ranked as the top influence and are deemed more important than campus visits & the advice of teachers/careers advisers.
And whilst parent power is on the rise this doesn’t appear to be because families are wanting to keep a closer eye on fees/tuition levels. When asked if they would select a University or Course simply because there was scholarship or bursary support available only 23% of students said they would definitely favour Universities and Courses where there is potential financial support and this response level has stayed fairly constant across surveys conducted both during and post pandemic.
Why has parental influence grown over the past few years, since the surveys started?
“Whilst our international students were studying remotely, back in their home countries, it was vital that we kept parents even more closely updated on their children’s progress, so they could more actively support their children. This closer involvement is now leading to parents feeling more empowered to influence their children’s higher education decision making too,” says UKI Forum Board member, Cory Lowde, Headmaster at Box Hill School.
Other international research backs up these findings. A survey** of 3,115 US parents published in October 2022 reported that parents now “prefer to direct and curate their child’s education rather than rely entirely on their school system.”
So how are Universities responding to these findings?
“The University members of the UKI Forum are now actively developing a suite of materials aimed specifically at international parents to help them support their child with their University and course search,” says Harry Xu, Regional Manager, International recruitment, University of York.
Along with the guides being sent to partner schools, direct to parents and Agents, the Universities on the Forum also see a wider, international recruitment use for similar ‘parent/family focused’ materials;
“From dealing with other international markets, I am seeing family and particularly parent influence growing, post pandemic,” says Malcolm Davidson, UKI Forum Board member & International Projects Manager at St George’s, University of London.
“The increasing focus we have seen from the UKI research results on selection of course ahead or alongside University selection would also suggest greater, granular parental influence and we need to make sure our marketing materials and website content really take note of these trends,” he adds.
It would seem time for all Universities to have clear marketing messages aimed at parents across international markets. The Forum is also now planning an international parent focused survey to further explore their priorities when advising their children on higher education options.
This article is published on StudyTravel.