What a week in China taught me about the changing expectations of international students.
I recently had the privilege of travelling through China alongside the team from Shafston International College as part of an education delegation exploring international education partnerships, student mobility and opportunities for collaboration between Australian and Chinese education providers.
Over the course of the week, we visited universities, secondary schools, government representatives and industry partners, gaining valuable insights into China’s evolving education landscape and the aspirations of students considering international study.
I boarded the flight expecting to learn more about another education system.
Instead, I boarded the flight home questioning some of my own assumptions about Australia’s international education sector.
Across almost every meeting, one question found its way into the conversation.
Why Australia?
Not because Australia’s education system was being questioned.
Quite the opposite.
Australian education continues to be highly regarded. Its reputation for quality, innovation and graduate outcomes remains strong, and that wasn’t something I heard challenged during the visit.
Instead, the conversations centred on something entirely different.
Has Australia simply become too difficult to choose?
Across universities, schools and education partners, the same themes continued to emerge.
- Australia’s rising student visa costs.
- Increasingly demanding English language requirements.
- A perception that policy settings continue to change, creating uncertainty for students, families and education providers alike.
These weren’t expressed as criticisms.
They were simply the practical considerations students and their families now weigh when deciding where to invest in their future.
What surprised me most wasn’t that students were considering alternative destinations.
It was how naturally those alternatives entered the conversation.
The United Kingdom was mentioned repeatedly.
So too were Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
Not as second choices.
As genuine competitors.
For many students, these destinations are geographically closer, increasingly recognised for the quality of their education and, importantly, perceived to offer a clearer and more accessible pathway.
That made me stop and think.
My conclusion wasn’t that Australia has become an unattractive destination.
Far from it.
Rather, it was that choosing Australia now requires students to overcome more barriers than it once did.
Perhaps Australia’s challenge is no longer convincing students that we deliver world-class education.
Perhaps it’s convincing them that studying here is worth the additional cost, complexity and uncertainty when high-quality alternatives exist much closer to home.
That, in my view, is a very different conversation.
A Shift in Student Motivation
One observation challenged an assumption I had held for many years.
I’ve always believed that many international students viewed Australia not only as a place to gain a qualification, but also as a place to build a future.
The conversations I had throughout the week suggested something more nuanced.
Students still value an Australian qualification.
They still aspire to experience life in Australia.
They still recognise the quality of our education system and the opportunities that come from studying here.
However, their long-term aspirations appear to be changing.
Increasingly, many students see an Australian education as a way to broaden their horizons, gain international experience and develop globally recognised skills before returning home to build their careers.
Another perspective also emerged during our discussions.
Several stakeholders suggested that an overseas qualification alone may no longer differentiate graduates in the way it once did. As education systems continue to strengthen across Asia, employers appear to be placing increasing value on graduates who combine international perspectives with local experience, cultural understanding and established professional networks.
Whether this reflects a broader market trend or simply the perspectives shared during our discussions remains to be seen.
However, it reinforced an important lesson.
International education isn’t just changing where students choose to study. It’s changing why they choose to study abroad in the first place.
If student motivations are changing, shouldn’t the way we design, market and deliver education evolve with them?
The Competition Has Changed — And So Have Students
For many years, Australia’s international education sector primarily competed with countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
The conversations I had in China suggested our competitive landscape may be changing.
Increasingly, students appear to be comparing Australia with destinations much closer to home.
Destinations investing heavily in higher education, research capability, international partnerships and the overall student experience.
If that’s the case, perhaps the question isn’t whether Australia’s education remains world-class.
It’s whether our overall value proposition remains as compelling as it once was.
What Does This Mean for VET?
As someone who works closely with both higher education and the vocational education and training (VET) sector, I couldn’t help but think about what these conversations might mean beyond universities.
One thing I’ve learnt through working with Australian RTOs is the extraordinary effort providers invest in developing quality training, contemporary learning resources and meaningful student experiences.
But quality alone doesn’t guarantee demand.
If student expectations continue to evolve, our products, delivery models and market strategies must evolve with them.
Australia’s VET sector has traditionally offered an attractive proposition—practical, industry-focused education with strong employment outcomes and clear career pathways.
However, if international students are becoming more selective about where they study, how resilient is our current model?
Many providers continue to rely heavily on international enrolments from key source countries.
If those markets continue to evolve, how prepared are we to adapt?
Perhaps that means expanding offshore delivery.
Perhaps it means strengthening articulation pathways and transnational education partnerships.
Perhaps it means collaborating more closely with overseas institutions to deliver Australian qualifications in-market.
Or perhaps it simply means asking ourselves one fundamental question more often.
Are we designing education around what providers want to offer—or around what students now value most?
Because the providers best positioned for the future won’t be those who assume they know what students want.
They’ll be the ones who continue asking, continue listening and have the agility to respond.
Looking Ahead
I don’t pretend to have all the answers.
These reflections are based on one week of conversations in one market.
But they challenged some of my own assumptions and prompted me to think differently about Australia’s future in international education.
Australia’s reputation has taken decades to build.
Maintaining that reputation remains critical.
But reputation alone won’t sustain our future competitiveness.
If international education continues to evolve—as I believe it will—our challenge isn’t simply attracting more students to Australia.
It’s ensuring our delivery models, partnerships and educational offerings continue to align with what future students genuinely value.
Perhaps the next phase of Australian international education won’t be defined solely by how many students come to Australia.
Perhaps it will be defined by how effectively Australian education reaches students wherever they are—and how well we continue to respond to their changing aspirations.
Because if there was one lesson I took away from my week in China, it was this:
The future of Australian international education won’t be determined solely by the quality of our institutions.
It will be determined by how well we continue to understand the students we exist to serve.
Suggested References
Rather than embedding references throughout the article, I recommend including them as “Further Reading” at the end. This keeps the article flowing while demonstrating that your reflections align with broader sector discussions.
Further Reading
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. International Trade in Services – Education Exports (latest release). https://www.abs.gov.au/
- Australian Government, Department of Education. International Education Data and Research. https://www.education.gov.au/international-education-data-and-research
- Austrade. Market Information Package – China. https://www.austrade.gov.au/
- QS World University Rankings 2026. https://www.topuniversities.com/
- ABC News (2026). Chinese student numbers are expected to take a turn for the worse. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-29/chinese-student-numbers-are-expected-to-take-turn-for-the-worse/106468846