DOMINIC MOON

Senior Education Consultant Metropolis Education

Q & A: Dominic answers our questions on international student recruitment for UK boarding schools; highlighting key trends, and assessing how the pandemic has affected the way that parents and schools view agents and guardians.

Has international student recruitment changed since the pandemic and has Metropolis’s role evolved within the sector?

International recruitment is always changing, especially in recent years as schools strive to diversify their boarding communities. Covid slowed that somewhat but that was merely a pause, and now we are back and seeing a new energy from our schools in this area. That said, schools are more cost-conscious and with that comes more strategic decision making, with agents and event organisers really having to deliver as schools will simply not accept it.

At Metropolis we changed (or accelerated) our own strategy to try and break into newer markets and this has seen us develop events in Paris, Seoul, Tokyo & Osaka, Budapest, Johannesburg & Cape Town, Mexico & Monterrey, New York & Washington and finally Sao Paulo and Santiago. These are areas we have seen good data for and know that many of our 200 Metropolis Partner Schools are being successful in. We are looking at India also as the data suggests things are moving in the right direction, so expect a lot of activity in this region in the coming years!

Are schools relying more than ever on agents for recruiting students?

Yes 100%. Between 80-90% of the international pupils in our partner schools will come via agents and this doesn’t look like changing anytime soon. What we have to be aware of though, is the sheer number of new schools (many of them marquee big names) exploring the international markets and spreading their net wider to simply reduce their reliance on “the usual” markets. This inevitably puts pressure on agents to deliver more families and of course, there are more agents than ever so it’s interesting.

One thing I will say is that only 4 markets currently deliver enough new pupils every year to give at least one pupil to every boarding school (which surprises people); which is why everywhere is so pressured and achieving diversity is so hard!

What are the key principles for schools to consider if they want to increase their international student recruitment?

You need to know your market – shop local think global (was that HSBC that said that?). That methodology works I think as the various markets behave differently. Eg, South East Asia is very much academically focussed whereas Central & South American families prioritise safety, security, health and wellbeing and extra-curricular activities. It’s definitely not one size fits all and if you try to be something for everyone, you’ll lose out to those who understand that market better.

But ultimately, the mainstay of international recruitment is and has always been relationship based; being authentic, delivering on time and gaining trust from those all-important agents. This is harder for new schools venturing into the international space as some schools have been active for many years – simply being a good school, isn’t good enough!

Are the international markets for students changing geographically; are new areas emerging?

Yes, it’s always changing and has done for the 20 years I have been involved. We don’t tend to say new markets but more a recognition of the ebb and flow of them. Certainly, our strategy at Metropolis is to identify those markets where we see good evidence of and sense growth and then we react to that. We definitely need to be more courageous, visible and noisy in more markets as our friends in Canada have done for years; hopefully, if you build it they will come!

And finally, do you think educational guardians are seen in a different light by schools and overseas parents since the pandemic?

In all honesty, yes but some good and some bad. The pandemic caused lots of issues and stress for everyone and the landscape has changed considerably. Schools recognise some of those stress points so have adapted their thinking eg, more optional exeats and more vigilant checks on those “family and friends”.

For families, they just want solutions, to keep costs down, have one fee (no hidden extras or surprises from guardians or schools) and to have transparency.

Guardians have certainly upped their game providing more options (from basic to platinum packages), providing a more experiential offering to pupils has been a big move and we have seen that right across the board since the pandemic as we know the effects when children miss out. More interestingly, we hear that many guardians have morphed into agents as well and this is neither good nor bad as long as the best interests of the child are met. Let’s face it, many agents have done this anyway.

Ultimately, the relationship for many schools is very strong with their guardians, if not stronger than before with everyone working tirelessly, to make things as smooth as possible for each other.