27 October 2022 at 11:00 am
NZ’s education brand remains stable despite border closures
Perceptions of New Zealand’s education brand in key markets appear largely unaffected by COVID-19 or New Zealand’s border closures, according to the latest brand survey for Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ). New Zealand’s brand for student mobility remains in fifth place among English-speaking countries.
A recent presentation by Jason Cate of Kantar, who carried out the 2022 annual brand survey for ENZ, considers two broad questions:
- How is the demand for international education changing post-Covid 19?
- How is New Zealand’s brand as an education destination being impacted?
“This programme tracks perceptions of New Zealand as an education destination globally, but also specific association statements and overall sentiment, appeal and attractiveness,” Jason Cate says.
“It’s always interesting to see how this develops and changes over time, particularly over the last couple of years, given all the challenges.”
More than 4,800 potential students were surveyed online across 11 priority countries, as well as their parents in some markets. The 16-24 year olds surveyed were mostly current students, and all of them were considering further study in an offshore, English-speaking country.
Jason Cate says the survey shows the overall nature of demand for offshore education is stable in 2022, and only slightly lower than before Covid-19.
The core reasons why students are considering studying offshore haven’t changed:
- to live and travel overseas
- to meet new people
- to enhance their employability.
The survey shows there has been a significant reduction in the proportion of students delaying their studies because of Covid-19 (from close to half of students to around one third), but the proportions of students considering both study offshore and at home, or study offshore and online, have increased. In other words, there is a shift in their preferences for the mode of delivery.
Across most of our key partner countries, perceptions of New Zealand are relatively constant, with the only change being a small decline in awareness. New Zealand again tussles with Singapore for the fifth strongest brand in student mobility among English-speaking countries.
For more details about global demand and perceptions of New Zealand’s education brand in individual markets, you can listen to the full presentation on Intellilab here, by registering and logging in through MaiENZ.
