International students cautious about recruitment agent ‘bias’

More than half of international students with knowledge of recruitment agents believe that they can be biased towards certain universities, according to a new Times Higher Education survey.

A majority of respondents also think that agents are primarily interested in making money for themselves, with almost a fifth “strongly agreeing” that this was their main aim.

The findings come from a survey of more than 3,000 international students from 150 different countries who were mainly looking to apply to universities in Europe and North America.

When asked about their level of knowledge of recruitment agents, most said they had either not heard about them or had a limited understanding of what they did.

Of the 1,000 students who said they had at least “some knowledge” about agents, four in five agreed that they helped students through difficult processes such as visa applications.

Meanwhile, around half said they believed agents wanted to ensure that students chose the right university for their needs (53 per cent) and that they represented their interests (49 per cent).

However, 57 per cent agreed that agents were biased towards recruitment at certain universities and 52 per cent thought that they were primarily interested in making money for themselves.

Three-quarters of the students with some knowledge of agents said that they would prefer to use an education agent that had been assessed and deemed legitimate by an independent body.

The findings in the survey, conducted to mark the launch of THE Student, echo similar research published earlier this year by UK education bodies that suggested a significant number of staff and students felt agents pushed recruitment towards certain institutions.   

“Space exists in the sector for a more widely known and trusted body to provide students with information about which agents exist and to inform student choice about which agent to engage,” says the new report, produced by THE’s consultancy arm.

Results from the THE survey also gave some indication of the level of disruption to international recruitment cause by the pandemic.

Six in 10 of all those planning to study abroad said their plans had been disrupted by the crisis, with 39 per cent looking now to go at a later date, 13 per cent changing their intended university, country or course, and 9 per cent cancelling entirely. Of those changing their plans, around half said they were now looking at studying in a different country.

Meanwhile, just 42 per cent of all those planning to study abroad agreed that learning online with an international university would be worthwhile, and most disagreed that studying online with an institution abroad would be better than face to face at a university in their own country.

The survey respondents were drawn from THE Student Pulse, a new global opinion panel developed by THE of international students looking to study abroad.

simon.baker@timeshighereducation.com

Click here to join the THE Student launch at 9.30am (BST) on 20 May.