British Council in North East Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Korea) is pleased to enclose our event calendar for 2018-19, which gives you a forward view of what our upcoming events are from August 2018 onwards. The details of our bespoke services are also enclosed for your information.

Please find details of upcoming activities in the PDF attachment, which can be found at the bottom of this page. Some highlights include:

• An opportunity to leverage alumni success stories to inspire potential students, with the Star Alumni Digital Poster Campaign. This is a social media campaign in which you can put a spotlight on alumni career achievements, in a format that millennials relate to. In addition to social media, the content that we will help you create can also be used to highlight your presence at Study UK exhibitions.
• Programmes to promote specific faculties or programmes, such as our Engineering/Technology/Automotive Mission to South Korea. This campaign is based around major motor shows, and is an opportunity to combine student recruitment, higher education partnerships and industry links in one trip. The student recruitment component of this campaign will include public facing activities and visits to specialist high schools.
• Campaigns that are targetted for specific sectors, such as our ELT promotion campaign in Japan. This includes digital promotion in order to raise your profile in advance of a face to face recruitment event in November.
• In the coming months we are also bringing you the opportunity to specifically promote STEAM in Hong Kong/Southern China, Arts & Design in Japan and Korea, and promoting Vocational Education in Korea. Please refer to the attached PDF at the bottom of the page for timings and other details.

In addition to these campaigns we also of course offer Study UK exhibitions, such as our flagship February exhibition in Hong Kong and Spring Exhibition in Japan (25th March 2019). Going forward, our key events will include opportunities to stand out to visitors, such as options to build your own booth and showcasing your technology or students work. We welcome the opportunity to discuss options with you on getting the best RoI from such events.

Market Background

Hong Kong

• Hong Kong is the third largest sending market of undergraduate students to UK universities, however is fiercely competitive both from other UK and from local universities. It is therefore important to stand out in this crucial recruitment market. 
• Being the second largest sending market to UK independent schools, Hong Kong is set to continue being a high priority market for UK boarding schools.
• The market has continued to demonstrate growth - Tier 4 Visa Issuance in 2017 increased by 2.8 % and recent UCAS acceptances (Jun 2018 deadline) showed a 2.7% increase compared with last year.

Japan

• University short-term study market (UG level) has seen tremendous growth in recent years, spurred by government scholarships for short-term study and increasing demands from the business sector for graduates with experience of living and studying overseas.  The short-term market is likely to see continued expansion in the coming years as more Japanese universities adjust their academic calendar to allow students to enrol in summer/spring courses overseas.
• Growing interest in boarding schools - There is increasing awareness among parents in Japan of the importance of gaining study abroad experience from an early age and this is resulting in renewed interest in overseas boarding schools. 1,068 students from Japan were studying at independent schools in the UK in 2017/18, a 16% increase on the previous year and a 60% increase since 2013/14.  
• Strong demand for English language / Teacher Training courses - The number of teachers enrolling in training programmes abroad has grown in recent years. There is some funding support for individual teachers to enrol in training courses abroad with one example being the Metropolitan Foundation for Private Schools, an association of private schools in Tokyo, has annual funding for up to 200 teachers of English (up to approximately 7,000 GBP per person).

Korea

• Short term ELT market is sizeable, with 5,500 students studying English in the UK last year, accounting for half of the Korean student body in the UK.
• Key market for promoting Art & Design - 30% of Korean students at UK universities study towards a degree in Creative fields. Opportunities remain to recruit students in this area by demonstrating teaching excellence and UK creativity.
• Opportunities to promote PG programmes - Pursuing a PG degree in the UK has a reputation for being high-quality and cost effective among students and young professionals in Korea. Some major corporations and civil servants receive full scholarship from their companies, with the right promotion this sector may grow.

Please contact us for further discussion on market trends and targetted marketing campaigns that meet your institution's needs:

• Anna Lee, Head of Education Services for North East Asia <anna.lee@britishcouncil.org.hk>
• Karen Hsu, Education Services Manager (Hong Kong country lead) <karen.hsu@britishcouncil.org.hk>
• Hal Parker, Education Services Manager (Japan country lead) <Hal.Parker@britishcouncil.or.jp>
• Youngah Kim, Education Services Manager (Korea country lead) <Youngah.Kim@britishcouncil.org>