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The Irish Independent (June 10th) reported that every year €500m is brought into the Irish economy by international third level students from outside the EU. But that New Zealand, a country with a comparable population, is much more successful than Ireland is in attracting them. The difference, according to the Independent is that New Zealand has put a clear policy in place and formed an alliance between government, education providers and supporting organisations to deliver stated objectives. The view expressed is that the absence of a government policy in Ireland has meant they are not claiming their ‘share’ of the global market for international education.

News from the UK, as reported by the Telegraph, is that British sixth formers could be “crowded out” of university places because of an increase in applications from candidates from the rest of Europe, according to vice-chancellors. An unprecedented surge in applications by young people to start higher education in the UK in September has seen the number of British candidates rise by 8.8 per cent from last year. Applications from the rest of the European Union are rising even more quickly, up by 16.4 per cent. Yet even though 43,367 more Britons and 3,576 more Europeans are chasing places, the Government has set a controversial 10,000 cap on the number of additional places available across the sector. A combination of the cap, the rise in EU applicants and a rule that prevents universities from discriminating in favour of homegrown talent means that British sixth formers risk losing places to well-qualified rivals from abroad.

The stories of violence and racism against international students in Australia have continued to appear in the media since our last update. The following is just one extract from The Australian (June 12th) and discusses some of the consequences of these events:

Protests in the wake of attacks on international students have forced a national quality crackdown on education and training providers to shore up the reputation of Australia’s $15.5 billion education export industry. Education Minister Julia Gillard also announced another taskforce as it ratchets up its response to the attacks that have attracted international news coverage and sparked street protests. The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs in Hobart today agreed to urgently carry out targeted audits of education and training providers. It follows Victoria’s earlier move to launch a “rapid audit” of providers suspected to being in breach of regulations. The crackdown is expected to largely target those small private education providers that have been the target of complaints from students.