Market insights from Saudi Arabia

The most notable changes have included restrictions to the Saudi scholarships programme, and a renewed focus on increasing the provision of private education to meet future growth in demand. As a result, opportunities ahead will be found in in-country education provision, while changes to the scholarship programme provide an opportunity to position New Zealand well for favoured specialist disciplines.

Saudi Arabia is a ‘promote’ market for Education New Zealand. In 2014, 3,246 Saudi students enrolled with New Zealand providers. Saudi students often progress through English language, foundation courses, bachelor degrees and postgraduate qualifications here. Many New Zealand organisations also offer education services in-market.

Scholarships changes

Saudi Arabia has implemented the largest study-abroad scholarship programme in the world, with up to 180,000 Saudi students being sponsored at any one time.

Students have traditionally entered the scholarship programme either by undertaking three to four months privately funded English language study and then receiving a scholarship from the in-country Cultural Mission (the private-entry pathway), or by receiving a full scholarship in Saudi Arabia (the Saudi-entry pathway).

• Private entry pathway changes: In February the Saudi Government announced restrictions on the private entry pathway, which had accounted for the majority of scholarship students globally. This restriction requires students to attend a top-100 university (Shanghai JiaoTong rankings) before being admitted. This route had been paused since 2015 – a factor reflected in New Zealand’s first time student visa statistics, which show a reduction in first-time student numbers from March 2015 onwards (brown versus blue line below).

• Saudi pathway changes: The Ministry has also reformed the Saudi pathway in 2015 by establishing 'your job your scholarship' which links the scholarships to future employment. The timeframes for this scholarship allocation process has been extended to provide for the central management of scholarships by the Ministry of Education (which merged with the Ministry of Higher Education in 2015).

In sum these changes will increase the entry criteria for the scholarships and therefore the overall calibre of Saudi scholarship students, and position New Zealand well for specialist disciplines that are in-demand in the Saudi labour market.

Increasing international and private education within the Kingdom

The recently appointed Minister of Education, Mohammed Al-Isa, has signalled that the Ministry is to review a long-standing ban on foreign universities. The Minister has also signalled in Arabic media that ‘private education will drive growth in the education sector’.

These signals may see growth in the number of private international operators established in the Kingdom. There will also be increasing opportunities for New Zealand providers to meet in-market demand for high quality education provision. Reflecting the importance that the Saudi authorities are placing on international investment, the theme of the April 2016 Ta’leem Exhibition, sponsored by the Ministry of Education, is ‘Investment in Education’.

Education New Zealand’s activities in Saudi Arabia in 2016 include a three-pronged approach to these changing market dynamics:

• Targeting promotions towards private students, e.g. through the English-language promotional campaign which will focus on students studying abroad over the extended Saudi summer

• Working directly with the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission in New Zealand, and sponsor agencies to offer places through the ‘your job your scholarship’ programme, and

• Supporting New Zealand education organisations to increase the delivery of education services in Kingdom, as the Government tilts its investment towards more ‘in-market’ education solutions and delivery.

For further information, please get in touch with your key ENZ contact.