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The TES includes an emphasis on sustainable export education centred on a reputation for quality teaching and pastoral care.

International student numbers at peak in 2004

The total number of international students in formal tertiary education peaked in 2004 and declined in 2005. International students as a proportion of all tertiary students also declined from 10 percent in 2004 to 9 percent in 2005. A large proportion of international students (80 percent) come from Asia. There is small growth in student numbers from other regions, particularly Europe and North America.

Formal international students by region of origin 1997–2005

As well as formal tertiary education, New Zealand also provides English language education for international students. Numbers in this type of provision have been more volatile. The number of students coming from Asia peaked in 2003 and has since declined. There has been small growth in the numbers from Europe and other countries. This area has been affected by high-profile problems with a few New Zealand providers as well as international circumstances, such as economics and international security threats.

International students in English language schools by region of origin 2000–2005

Source: Statistics New Zealand, Survey of English-Language Providers.

TEO internationalisation

Recent Ministry of Education-commissioned research on internationalisation¹ found that:

• there is increasing commitment from TEIs to internationalisation, with 80 percent of institutions believing internationalisation to be very important
• half of academic and business units surveyed have strategic plans that include internationalisation objectives
• most institutions have involvement in an international or regional network of some kind
• most provide a specialist centre specifically for the support of international students and almost all provide orientation programmes
• there has been a significant increase in international collaborative research activities since 1998, although the bulk comes from a small number of institutions
• there has been an increase in the number of courses offered offshore, and an increase in offshore activity, especially in the development of strategic alliances with overseas institutions.

The analysis of profiles found that most ITPs and all universities had change-focused objectives relating to export education and internationalisation in 2005/07. However, there were fewer with a focus on this area in their 2006/08 profile, even though there was greater uncertainty about international student numbers.

Objectives in this area typically focus on increasing international student numbers (including offshore provision), diversifying countries of origin and pastoral care. There was a shift in 2006/08 ITP profiles towards offshore provision rather than attracting more international students to New Zealand.

In both years, several TEIs also had objectives relating to internationalisation of the curriculum and educational experience for domestic students and supporting English-language development and educational pathways for international students.

Compliance with the Code of Practice

The Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students provides mandatory rules for care of international students within education providers. Complaints against the Code can be made to the International Education Appeal Authority.

In the year to 2004, there was an increased number of complaints to the Authority, from 69 for the previous year to 101. The Authority report notes that it seems likely that this increase is due to increased awareness of the complaints mechanisms rather than any deterioration in the quality of services offered by providers.

The complaints involved 84 providers out of the 1,249 providers who were signatories to the Code as at 1 October 2004. Complaints related to poor-quality homestay accommodation, course quality and inappropriate course placement, misleading information about course costs, inadequate information about the nature of courses, expulsion, inadequate information about refund provisions and interpretation of refund provisions.

¹ Craig McInnis, Roger Peacock and Vince Catherwood, Internationalisation in New Zealand Tertiary Education Organisations,, report to the Ministry of Education, 2006. (↑)

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• The State of Play

• Cross Strategy Indicators

• Raise foundation skills

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• Te rautaki mātauranga Māori

• Pacific people’s development and success

• Capability and quality

• Technical and Data Definitions