BAISIS – Feedback on agents survey and marketing implications

• Date: March 18, 2024
• Time: 11:00 – 12:00
• Cost: BAISIS member – £50, BSA member – £65, BSA Member additional attendee – £30, BAISIS Member additional attendee – £20, Non-member – £130
• Audience: Marketing and admissions team, SLT/SMT, all staff involved in the recruitment of international students
• Platform: Zoom (online) – Webinar

Course Outline:

Each year, BSA and BAISIS undertake a survey of over 2000 educational agents globally to find out their thoughts on the UK boarding school market. The present market and predictions about the future are considered in the survey and agents’ answers are then collated and analysed.

The results give an up to date picture of the market for British boarding schools across the world from those who know best what is happening now and what is likely to happen.

This session will share and discuss, hot off the press, the findings from our 2023 survey, with a focus on the market outlook for our specific sector.

Caroline Nixon will be joined by two educational agents to consider how the results could be interpreted and utilised in our schools, informing planning and practice for the future.

Learning outcomes:

• The session will inform schools’ marketing and strategic planning for the short, medium and long term with relevant, up to date and unique information

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Speaker: 

Caroline Nixon, BSA International & Membership Director

Caroline has worked in international education for over 30 years.  She is International & Membership Director at Boarding Schools’ Association, and Director of Caroline Nixon Education Ltd., as well as a member of the advisory group to the British Government’s All Party Parliamentary Group for international students.

Caroline set up and runs the BSA educational agent certification scheme and is involved with the BSA’s accreditation of international schools.  Her background is in international education marketing and she also set up and ran a leading international school in the UK.  She has helped several UK schools to establish new overseas branches, advised an international school opening in the UK, set up a guardianship agency for an educational group, and advises schools on international marketing and academic and pastoral provision for their international students.

Catherine Stoker, Managing Director

Catherine has had a wealth of experience in independent school education, with boarding prep and senior schools being a particular passion for her. Initially as a teacher and housemistress, then as one of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of a top London education consultancy, and latterly as founder of The Independent Education Consultants, she has helped many hundreds of families over the years.

Catherine is passionate about putting the child first, supporting and guiding parents in securing a school solution which takes account of the individual talents and needs of the child, alongside those of the family as a whole.

She has been advising parents with school choice dilemmas over many years. Her extensive knowledge of independent day and boarding schools UK-wide, allows her to offer both international and UK-based parents all the guidance they need.

Mentoring children who are finding school tricky or who need assistance with goal setting, as well as helping prep school age children to prepare for interviews and pre-tests is something she very much enjoys.

Catherine believes that consultancy is as much about listening as it is about speaking. Hence families find her a reassuring sounding board, to support them in finding the right pathway through what can often be a confusing decision-making process.

In a recent interview with a journalist who was researching an article about education consultancy services and the companies who provide them, Catherine was somewhat astonished to be told, ‘after a day of interviews with eight consultants, you are the first person who has given me the impression that you are advising parents for the good of the child and not for maximum financial gain as a business’. This is feedback that Catherine believes best defines the essence and ethos of The Independent Education Consultants.

Su Hayter, Global Development Manager for Boarding School IDP

Su has worked in international education for over 20 years, having lived and worked in Europe and Asia during that time.  She has been involved in student placement for both university and boarding schools providing a deep understanding of what international families are looking for both for their child’s schooling, and beyond.

Su currently works for IDP as Global Development Manager for Boarding School.  With nearly 200 student placement offices from 35 source countries, recruiting for 6 destination countries, Su is able to access on the ground feedback from many different markets in our ever-changing world where it is essential to keep ahead of individual market changes and the impacts this may have on families and ultimately recruitment.

As a mother, Su understands the complex decisions international parents face, in particular the  cultural, financial and academic challenges involved in finding a school where their child will be happy and thrive.