British Council North East Asia will launch a marketing campaign to help UK boarding schools’ marketing and student recruitment needs.

Through the marketing campaign, British Council East Asia will help UK boarding schools to:

1. Identify the most targeted audience
2. Communicate messaging that speaks to East Asia parents and students
3. Enhance your positioning, profile and attractiveness in North East Asia
4. Boost your international student recruitment numbers
5. Meet new agent partners

Benefits of participating

• Raise your profile through digital and print media reaching a wide audience of prospective students and Influencers.
• Engage directly with prospective students and influencers at face-to-face events
• Generate new links - these campaigns will target not only prospective students and their parents but also teachers and agents. Participating schools seeking new partnerships can take this opportunity to establish links with potential partners.
• Grow and strengthen your agent network

Timeline

This holistic integrated campaign is designed to enable UK schools to meet with prospective students and parents and key influencers in North East Asia in a single trip:

What is included in the Study UK boarding school campaign in North East Asia?

* Profile Page in UK Boarding Schools Guidebook 2020/21

Purpose: Profile-raising among prospective students, influencers, agents

Publish date: February 2020

Shelf-life: 1 year (February 2020 to February 2021)

About the Guide:

• Dimensions: W182mm x H257mm
• Language: Japanese
• Total pages: approximately 36, full colour
• Print run: 2,000 copies
• Contents of the guidebook

• An introduction to UK boarding schools highlighting strengths and attractions (article prepared by the British Council)
• Message from the British Ambassador to Japan (article prepared by the British Council)
• A map of the UK to show the location of the participating schools (prepared by the British Council)
• Profiles of up to 20 participating UK boarding schools 

• Each profile page will consist of:

• General information (school name, logo, contact details, gender profile, student number, school fees etc.). The British Council will provide a template for schools to complete.
• Brief information on the school (up to 150 words).
• Up to three photographs of the school/students (the British Council will select photograph(s) that best fit the space)

Distribution:

• British Council student facing events including our flagship Study UK Exhibitions  

• Postage to local study abroad agents / schools on request
• British Council front of house display
• Local events organized by schools / authorities

Online Version

An on-line version of the guidebook will be available via the British Council Japan website in easy-to-view PDF format for one year. The link will be advertised widely through British Council digital channels throughout 2020.

Reference: 2019/20 Guide

https://www.britishcouncil.jp/sites/default/files/boarding_school_guide_2019-2020.pdf

Market context

China

According to the UK Independent Schools Council 2018 census, there has been steady growth in pupil numbers from mainland China. Chinese mainland students now constitute more than 25 percent of the total number of international students studying at British independent schools. This figure is expected to continue to increase over the next few years.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong continues to be the UK’s second largest source market of international students for UK schools. UK education, and boarding schools in particular, enjoy a reputation for academic excellence, and parents look to send their students in order to avoid the high-pressure local education system. Despite the shrinking youth population in Hong Kong, the number of Hong Kong students in UK boarding schools increased 5.1% (from 4,938 to 5,188) in 2018, according to the ISC report 2018. We expect the market will be stable over the next couple of years. 

Japan

Interest in overseas boarding schools has been growing in recent years due to a host of factors which include: a growing awareness in Japanese society of the importance of gaining study abroad experience from a young age; wider awareness and understanding of the IB and A-Levels, both of which have received a large amount of media coverage in recent years; government support for study abroad through the Tobitate scholarships programme; and wider demands from industry for graduates with ‘global skills’.   

The market upturn has been reflected in the following recent statistics:

• 39% increase in boarding school enquiries at the British Council’s Study UK Spring Exhibition (held March 2018)
• 16% increase in total number of Japanese students studying at Independent Schools Council (ISC) schools in 2018 (2017: 924, 2018: 1,068)
• 17% growth in the number of Japanese pupils, whose parents live in Japan, studying at ISC schools in 2018 (2017: 336, 2018: 392)
• 22% increase in the number of new Japanese pupils, whose parents live in Japan, studying at ISC schools in 2018 (2017: 128, 2018: 156)
• 15% growth in the number of Japanese pupils, whose parents live in the UK, studying at ISC schools 2018 (2017: 588, 2018: 676)
• 15% increase in Tier 4 Child visa issuances in 2017 (2016: 251, 2017: 289)