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As part of the Australian Government's National Strategy for International Education 2025, the Department of Education and Training commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to provide an overview of the demographics and experiences of students enrolled in Australian vocational education and training (VET) offshore. The research findings are based on: (1) analysis of quantitative data collected through the first ever global survey of students enrolled in Australian VET courses overseas; and (2) analysis of qualitative data collected through a series of focus groups with students located in two Chinese provinces.

Key findings are that: (a) Australian VET offshore includes a diverse mix of partnerships and delivery models; (b) programs are clustered around a core set of providers and qualifications covering both broad and specialist training; (c) the predominant student profile are Chinese young adults with an international outlook but also includes students from over 40 other countries; (d) the Chinese context is complex and dynamic; (e) most students are enrolled in international programs because their school or college recommended it to them; (f) students use and trust information but are looking for more information on outcomes and pathways; (g) students identified a set of benefits to completing an international VET course at home; (h) post-training plans tend to focus on further education, training and employment options; and (i) most students would recommend their course to their peers.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

This report is the primary output from the Enabling Growth and Innovation (EGI)-funded project 'International education in regional study destinations: Building the evidence base' commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) in collaboration with Austrade. The objectives of this project are to develop the evidence base in ways that enable the development of marketing messages that attract international students into regional areas in Australia. To achieve this objective, the project has identified: the profile of international students in regional areas; the pull factors that attract them to study there; the rate at which students appear to convert from short-term non-award courses into formal qualifications; and factors underpinning success in attracting international students to regional areas.

Drawing on significant advancements in the geocoding of enrolment data to the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Structure and underlying Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+), the analyses of the latest enrolment data contained in this report identifies, with some precision, where and what international students were studying in Australia in 2019. In terms of primary data collection, a series of bespoke questions were included in the national Student Experience Survey (SES). This involved collecting information, for the first time, from more than 40,000 international higher education students about topics relating to their future intentions and off-campus experience of Australia. To provide qualitative stories of student experiences, in-depth focus groups were conducted with 63 students enrolled in five regional campus locations across Australia in 2019.

Edited excerpts from Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) website. Show less