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How can institutions crisis-proof the recruitment journey?
12 December 2025
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How can institutions crisis-proof the recruitment journey?
The latest QS Global Student Flows report shows that global student demand remains strong, projecting 8.5 million mobile learners by 2030. But despite this growth, mobility is becoming harder to predict. In an era where aspirations coexist with anxiety, institutions must do more than attract interest to crisis-proof the journey and remain competitive while guiding students with clarity and confidence.
At QS Reimagine Education 2025, leaders explored these shifts and the new realities that resilient recruitment is no longer about numbers. It’s about meeting students where they are: anxious, ambitious, and seeking clarity in a world that feels increasingly uncertain.
Global shifts are reshaping student mobility
Dr Sarah Todd, Principal Consultant at QS, opened the discussion at by reflecting on shifts revealed in the QS Global Student Flows 2025 report, which offers an evidence-based framework with three scenarios for international education through 2030 and equips decision-makers with the tools needed to anticipate and adapt to the future.
Todd said: “Student mobility is continuing to grow, but the demand and patterns are shifting. We’re seeing the impact of a difficult policy environment and changes to the ways students are accessing information about their international study options. All of this should be forcing us to rethink how we work in the international education space.”
Maddalaine Ansell, Director of Education at the British Council, emphasised the growing competition from alternative destinations: “For many years, the big English-speaking countries saw their main competition as other large English-speaking destinations. Now, hubs for international education are emerging all over the world. Diversification and developing internationalisation approaches in many countries is key to resilience.”
Speaking on shifting immigration policies, she added: “We know that it's worse to have constantly changing immigration policy than an appealing immigration policy that stays the same. All the Big Four destinations constantly change their immigration policy. I think universities need to work together to make the case for stable policy because we know that students will often choose a country before an institution.”
Emerging regions such as Africa, South Asia, and Central Asia were flagged as high-potential markets, alongside the growing prominence of Asia Pacific as a study destination. Todd added that accessibility and affordability are increasingly decisive factors in student choice: “Much of the growth in demand for some destinations, particularly in Asia, is driven by accessibility and affordability. At the other extreme, emergent destinations like Saudi Arabia are covering tuition, accommodation, and flights.”
Resilient recruitment is integrated
Effective recruitment isn’t a marketing exercise, the panellists concurred, but must be embedded across the institution. Todd reflected on how universities are adapting: “Budget constraints and crises have forced universities to realise that international recruitment is increasingly a shared responsibility, integrated with student experience, partnerships, and alumni engagement. We’ve seen plenty of crises recently in international education. We should all be on top of our game now.”
Nina Davies, Chief International Officer & Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Royal Veterinary College, described how her institution has elevated international work to a strategic priority: “We now have a committee, a strategy, and international recruitment will be a pillar in the wider university strategy […] taking colleagues on trips has been very effective; even a few champions can change how others engage and value international work.”
As a small and specialist institution, Davies feels that the RVC’s recruitment strategy can fall behind the rest of the sector. “We know how important it is for our institution to compete with larger universities and not be seen as a side show, but our recruitment has always been a needle in a haystack.”
She stressed the importance of trust and long-term relationships: “We have to build trust with students, and you cannot do that if ten different voices are speaking ten different stories. Bringing all angles together ensures recruitment reflects a trusted relationship from that region or city.”
Prioritise ethics and long-term thinking
For Ansell, student recruitment must be aligned with purpose, rather than treated solely as an income stream. She notes: “It feels very risky to see international student recruitment as an income stream. I think it’s worth thinking about what’s most important to you. Is it building your reputation for research, or building university partnerships? Are you looking to have presence in a particular market? Then it comes down to promoting your institution based on true quality and ethics."
By embedding ethics and long-term thinking into recruitment practices, institutions can cultivate trust, protect their brand, and ensure sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive international education market.
Build trust through partnerships and networks
Partnerships – both institutional and personal – remain a central lever for effective recruitment. Davies describes how her institution leverages feeder schools and stakeholder relationships to reach the right students: “We create longer pipelines and early engagement with feeder schools, with stakeholders, and really get to know people and get clear on what we’re about.”
Ansell echoes this view, stressing that human connections often drive institutional engagement more than any formal strategy. Speaking about the UK-Ukraine twinning scheme, she said: “What was really impactful about that partnership were the friendships built between academics from both countries. How we make international recruitment desirable is with human connections, so you feel you are building something that makes the world a better place with other people.”
By combining structured institutional collaboration with personal relationships, universities can strengthen recruitment resilience while ensuring alignment with long-term international objectives. Even as digital platforms, AI, and virtual events become more sophisticated, the panel emphasised that human connection is irreplaceable. Todd concluded: “Even with AI and online delivery, it frequently comes back to personal connection, trust, and rebuilding reputation and welcome for students.”
Resilient recruitment is about more than navigating policy or economic turbulence. It’s about building trust, aligning strategy, diversifying markets, and fostering genuine human connections. As student expectations evolve, institutions that integrate these principles will not just survive uncertainty but thrive.
