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Our team at Choose New Zealand wishes you happy holidays and a wonderful new year – whether you are celebrating the arrival of 2021 in New Zealand or overseas, we are surely all glad to put 2020 behind us!
Our office will be closed from 21st December 2020 and re-opened on Monday, 11th January 2021.
The Choose New Zealand team was at the Massey University agent workshop today. It was a great opportunity to hear all the updates from different department and faculties. More and more international students are choosing to study online while waiting for the border to reopen. Massey has been the leading university for distance learning in New Zealand over the past 50 years. For many students online study is a great option to save money while achieving the same goals. Feel free to contact us if you wish to know more about Massey's online study options.
Thank you for the invitation from Education Tauranga, University of Waikato, and Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, our team had a great time in Tauranga visiting institutions, receiving updates and experiencing the warm hospitality. Tauranga is the fastest growing city in New Zealand with wonderful education options. Choose New Zealand team is looking forward to welcoming more students to study in the Tauranga region.
Following the change of Auckland's COVID Alert Level to Level 3, our office will be closed from 12 August 2020 until further notice. Our business is still operating, and all staff are working from home.
We are available online!
You can book a consultation with one of our Licensed Immigration Advisers online by clicking the "Book" button.
Please email info@choosenewzealand.com, call us at +64 9 520 4329, or message us via our website or Facebook Page if you wish to reach us. We are here to help you if you have any questions.
Stay safe and Kia kaha!
Great to have Patrick Yeung, International Operations Coordinator of Lincoln University visiting us today. Our team was very excited to hear some of Lincoln's new programmes and how their online English study helped many students met the language requirement without IELTS. We are looking forward to helping more international students study at Lincoln, the New Zealand's leading agricultural university.
INFORMATION FOR OFFSHORE TRAVELLERS
Who may travel to New Zealand despite the border closure?
New Zealand citizens are allowed unconditional travel. Resident visa holders may enter as well, unless their resident visa was granted outside of New Zealand and they have not travelled to New Zealand on their resident visa before. Some Australian citizens will be allowed border entry as well, please enquire if you wish to know more.
Temporary visa holders (workers, students, visitors) are normally forbidden from travelling to New Zealand unless INZ grants them an exemption (see below).
Who may be granted an exemption?
Exceptions will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, including:
• Health and other essential workers (see below)
• Citizens of Samoa and Tonga for essential travel to New Zealand
• Visitor, student or work visa holders who normally live in New Zealand, and who are the partner or dependent of a temporary work or student visa holder who is currently in New Zealand
• Humanitarian reasons.
Please remember that the bar for “humanitarian reasons” – for example, distress at being separated from a partner will probably not qualify, unless the wellbeing of a child is seriously affected by their parent’s absence.
To qualify for an exemption, you should first submit a special request to INZ, not apply for a visa as normal. Please contact us for further information.
What is an essential health worker?
Offshore workers in an essential health area may be eligible for a visa and border entry. Their application will be prioritised, and if approved they may travel to New Zealand despite the current border restrictions.
They must be a current or new employee (see below) working in a key clinical or non-clinical position (see below) for an essential health service employer.
What is a current employee of an essential health service?
An employee who holds a key clinical or non-clinical position (see below) working in:
• A District Health Board
• New Zealand Blood Service
• Hospice or palliative care
• A primary care practice, such as urgent care or a medical or healthcare centre
• Aged residential care, respite or continuing care facility.
What is a new employee of an essential health service?
A staff member with a signed offer of employment from one of the agencies listed above, and who has a commencement date from March to June 2020.
What is a key clinical or non-clinical position?
The key clinical or non-clinical positions eligible are:
• Medical Doctors
• Nurses
• Midwives
• Psychologists
• Physiotherapists
• Technical and support staff working in:
o Theatre
o Laboratory
o Radiology
o Cardiology Blood service
o Nuclear medicine
o Oncology
o Haematology
o Pathology
o Hyperbaric medicine
o Mortuary
o Research Staff
• Support staff working in:
o Aged care
o Palliative/hospice care
o Mental health
o Child health
o Forensic care
What other essential businesses are exempted from the border closure?
Please refer to the website: https://covid19.govt.nz/…/current-cov…/essential-businesses/
I don’t believe I am eligible to enter New Zealand now, but I would still like to come once things return to normal. Can I still submit a visa application from overseas?
Yes, you can. You can submit a visa now and “get in the queue”, so that your decision will come earlier once INZ reopens.
Note, however, that Immigration New Zealand’s visa processing centres are almost entirely closed so we do not know how long your visa will take to process.
Currently, the New Zealand border is closed for three months, but there is a high chance that this closure will be extended beyond this date.
Unfortunately, we are unsure when visa processing and border entry will return to normal.
INFORMATION FOR ONSHORE MIGRANTS
“I’ve heard something about visa expiry dates being extended due to the epidemic. What does this mean?”
If you are in New Zealand now and hold a valid work, student, or visitor visa expiring between 02/04/20 and 09/07/20 (inclusive), then your visa will be automatically extended to 25/09/20. You do not need to inform Immigration New Zealand of your circumstances, they should contact you.
The visa expiry extension does not apply if you are currently offshore.
“I hold a low-skilled Essential Skills Work Visa and have been here for three years. Normally, I would need to leave New Zealand now. Do I still need to leave?”
You may be able to remain here despite the maximum stay of three years for low-skilled Essential Skills Work Visa holders, especially if you work in an area of essential services.
Please contact us for further information
“I hold a Student Visa or Visitor Visa. Do my work rights change?”
Supermarket workers on any visa (work, student, etc.)
If you held a Student or Work Visa and were working at a supermarket affiliated with Woolworths or Foodstuffs Limited on March 23 2020, then you may be eligible to work full-time until 25 April 2020.
However, please ensure you fully understand the rules before undertaking work that you would not normally be entitled to do! Otherwise, you could get in trouble with Immigration New Zealand at a later date.
Contact us or Immigration New Zealand to ensure these work rights exemptions apply to you.
Student Visa holders in healthcare
International Students currently employed in healthcare roles (including aged residential care) will be able to work full-time for three months in order to support the public health response to COVID-19.
We are awaiting further instructions from Immigration New Zealand on the correct procedure for doing this. Please contact us if you would like to know more.
“I should have got an interim visa by now, but still have not. What does this mean?”
We have several clients who have not yet been granted interim visas due to a glitch in the INZ system. This is unlikely to be resolved until after the lockdown.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about your current immigration status.
Last week Harmeet and David from Choose New Zealand team (Novo Education) had a 4-day awesome business trip to visit Palmerston North – the Familiarization Tour of Studying and Living in Manawatu, which is predominantly funded by Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA) and her colleague Helen. During the trip, they visited 3 education providers’ campuses: the largest PTE - IPU New Zealand, the regional ITP – UCOL and Massey UniversityPalmerston North, and met many international directors and principals from local schools. Harmeet and David had a fantastic time over there and learnt a lot regarding international education information in the region from the tour. Special thanks to Kristi Atkins and her colleague Helen who organized the trip and hosted all agents from Auckland during the trip, also to Grant Smith – the Mayor of Palmerston North who attended the traditional welcome and powhiri at a local Marae.
On Monday 2 March 2020 our Choose New Zealand team member Mabel, travelled to Christchurch for the University of Canterbury Agent Day on Campus. The agents were invited from the University's Director of International Growth Strategic - Ian MacDonald. This day included brief updates and informative presentations from each faculty: Science, Business & Business Taught Master, Arts, Engineering and Education. Speakers included Richard Hartshorn, Stephen Hickson, Will, Zita Joyce, David Wareham, Stuart Wise, Helen White and Helen Bu. Mabel had the opportunity to enjoy lunch with James Waghorn and Elizabeth Zou at the Shilling Club (Campus Cafe) with its stunning view of the campus. The invited agents also enjoyed a Christchurch City Tour including a relaxing walk in the Cracroft Reserve ending with a scenic view of the city.
Our warmest wishes for a happy holiday season! Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
Our office will be closed from 23rd Dec 2019- 5th Jan 2020, and will reopen on 6th Jan 2020.
Choose New Zealand team attended the 2019 Autumn Education New Zealand China Agent Seminars in Changsha, Beijing and Chengdu recently representing Glenfield College, Sacred Heart College (Auckland), Hutt Valley High School, and Languages International. Frank, Kelly and David were very pleased to be able to introduce these high-quality institutions to all agents they met.
Today our partners from Nepal flew back home. They enjoy their trip very much. To get a better understanding of the New Zealand education system, they visited a number of schools during their stay. Now they believe they can recruit more international students to New Zealand in the near future.
Wishing Ramesh and Bikash a save flight to Nepal
This morning some of our team went to AUT for an information session on the undergraduates and postgraduates of hospitality, tourism and events at the Auckland City Campus.
We learned impressive information about AUT’s world rankings at #35 in the subject area. AUT is also the only university who provides a Degree in Event Management in New Zealand.
AUT allows students to have a real world experience. This insures that students can gain work experience while studying.
Last week Wednesday we had a visit from Massey University (Tim and Djhoanna) to inform us about the programmes offered at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Creative Arts.
It was also great to be able to learn more about their unique courses such as Bachelor of Resource and Environmental Planning, Bachelor of creative media production,
Master of Design - Weta Workshop School (only available be at Massey University - Wellington) and many more
Massey University also has scholarship opportunity for international student each year too.
Choose New Zealand, a leading brand helping international students and immigrants in New Zealand, opened its first Indian office in Kottayam, Kerala, on the 6th January 2019.
Kottayam is the administrative capital of Kottayam district located in south-west Kerala. It is one of the main centres of literature and hence known as the "Land of Letters". Choose New Zealand Kottayam office will work closely with the Choose New Zealand head office in New Zealand to offer high-quality services to students and clients in Kottayam and nearby regions in Karela.
During the opening ceremony, the office was officially inaugurated by Former Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri Ommen Chandy, through a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by the lighting of the lamp. Many people from neighbouring areas, as well as various community leaders and politicians of Kerala, gathered to witness the inauguration.
The new office has been busy with handling enquiries from new clients since its opening. Rajin Kumar, General Manager of the Kottayam office, commented that he will work with his team to build their reputation for excellence among local clients who are seeking to realise their dreams in New Zealand.
The Choose New Zealand Kottayam office is in Koshy’s Arcade on Good Shepherd Street, near the famous DC Books. It opens from 9 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday and 9 am to 2 pm on Saturday.
More contact details can be found on the links below:
https://www.choosenewzealand.com/en/contact/
Choose New Zealand Kottayam Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/ChooseNewZealandKottayam/
2018 student results are out now. We are so proud of our High School and Foundation program graduates of 2018. We are pleased to share our success rate was 100% for NCEA and 92% for EU and University direct related Bridge Program from last year. We are also honoured to announce that three of our student have been offered a university scholarship.
Novo Education and Choose New Zealand is overwhelmed with joy of the results. We will continue to help our student strive for success in 2019.
Novo Education and PSI Tutoring had an awesome end of year function before the holidays. We had amazing food and drinks, along with fun prizes for the team. Here we share our experience with you all. Hope you've had an excellent 2018. Wish you an even better 2019.
It is our honour to announce that Choose New Zealand (Novo Education) has been assigned the status of Recognised Agency by Education New Zealand.
Choose New Zealand team is dedicated to providing outstanding services to students and clients from all around the world. 2018 has been a great year for our brand and being recognised by the New Zealand government agency is another great achievement. We are looking forward to supporting more people to fulfil their dreams in New Zealand, the world' best destination.
"At Education New Zealand we recognise the quality service and assistance this agency provides to those who want to study in New Zealand and the contribution they make to a positive student experience."
Find us on the Recognised Agency page on Study in New Zealand website (Education New Zealand).
It was great to be part of the New Zealand International Education Conference and big thanks to Education New Zealand for organising such a fantastic event. So much learning and inspiration. We are so proud of that New Zealand is and will continually be a thriving and globally connected nation through world-class international education. Find out more about the conference here.
We are very proud and excited to let you know that Novo Education Consulting has been nominated for the 2018 ST Star New Agency Award. Thank you so much for all your support in the last four years, especially to those partners who voted for us.
The news of our nomination took us by surprise. ST Star Awards are peer-voted awards, first held in 2006, and reward quality across twenty-five categories covering different sectors in the international education industry. We are very honoured to know we are one of the top five voted agencies by the education providers in the world, and the only one from New Zealand and Australia nominated for this award in the last eleven years. We are very proud of this considering we only serve New Zealand institutions, while other overseas agencies connect to many institutions from all around the world.
You can find our nomination information here. The winner will be announced during the awards gala held on the 1st September in London. We hope there will be more good news waiting for us.
We see this award as a recognition of our achievements in the past, and encouragement for delivering even better services to New Zealand institutions, overseas partners, international students and clients, and their families. We understand working alone won’t take us anywhere and we wish to work more closely with all our partners. In the end, we are better together.
Happy Chinese New Year, year of the Dog! May you have a wonderful day!
Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology awarded Novo Education Consulting (Choose New Zealand) the Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of our contribution. Tilak Raj from our partner Fluent Academy received the certificate on behalf of Novo Education in Chandigarh. We will continuously work closely with different institutes to service more students from the world!
As the business grows, our team is expanding and changing. Firstly, we congratulate Caitlin Penty on completing her Graduate Diploma in New Zealand Immigration Advice to become our third Licensed Immigration Adviser. Wendy Sakkhajornkai, our former Office Manager, has now relocated to Thailand, where she acts as our Regional Marketing Manager and is busy developing marketing projects in Thailand. We also welcome our new team member Lyka Agpalo, who has previously worked for Immigration New Zealand. Lyka is now working as the Immigration Coordinator for the Migration Service team.
For perhaps the first time in history, one of our member schools held their “Parents Meet and Greet” in China. On the 27th of June, Birkenhead College representatives Louise Plummer (Deputy Principal and Director of International Students) and Sally Baker (International Student Manager) joined our Operations Director for Greater China, David Gao, to meet with more than 30 parents of current and future Choose New Zealand students and overseas agents in Shanghai.
During the seminar, Louise and Sally introduced Birkenhead College and the various academic, sporting and cultural experiences they offer, and David explained the New Zealand education system and the role of Choose New Zealand Student Services. Two current students also shared their experience as international students in New Zealand.
Louise greatly appreciates what Novo Education and its Choose New Zealand Education Alliance has done to unite students, parents, agents and schools. In her experience dealing with educational partners, Louise has never encountered such a professional team with such a strong focus on student welfare.
There were many questions asked in the Q&A session and we received extremely positive feedback from all attendees.
As an organisation that promotes New Zealand education and cares for the welfare of international students, we have the advantage of an international team from a wide range of countries. For the Asian market, Vivian and her service team provide our Choose New Zealand clients with the “Guardianship Service”, the “Student Settlement Service”, and the “Family Settlement Service”. Through our efforts, Choose New Zealand has become a central link which works closely with students’ own families, students’ host families, students’ schools and students’ overseas agents. We help each student to complete a personalised study plan and achieve learning objectives by means of regular academic tutorials and individual student assistance. From time to time during weekends and student holidays, our Love New Zealand Student Club organises various fun activities, so that students can experience many facets of New Zealand life. We also continue to expand the number of services we offer and have strong professional links with experts in the fields of education, career development, health, and counselling to assist with the development of each student and maximise their performance.
Click here to download our service brochure.
David Gao, our Operations Director of China, had gone to his first trip to China on 15 March and is spending one and half month travelling in different cities to promote Choose New Zealand Education Alliance and our member schools. He will attend five Education New Zealand Agent Seminars in Shanghai, Beijing, Jinan, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. He will also visit many other regions to have Choose New Zealand seminars and workshops to meet more students and parents. We are looking forward to hearing more good news from him and updating you.
Holly, our Marketing Manager of Viet Nam, is now in Viet Nam visiting agents and student families. She will soon join in Education New Zealand Agent Seminars in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Bruce, our Chairman, has just returned from a marketing trip to the Philippines. He has hosted many seminars and workshops for potential students to introduce our member institutions and their programmes.
It always makes us so proud to see our students achieving their dreams through the effort of themselves, their schools, and us. For this summer intake, we had many high school and foundation year graduates who are starting their universities studies in the subjects they have dreamed.
A few of them are:
Very big congratulations to them and we wish them the best for their future.
After Bruce became our first Licensed Immigration Adviser (LIA) last year, we have been helping many students and clients with their visa applications and issues. Now we have two LIAs and the third one is on her way to be licenced.
By February 2017 we have helped to lodge in total 237 visa applications and the overall success rate is 83%. Like everyone, we have a lot of problems with getting approval for Student Visas from India early last year, but since putting new processes into place in October, we have had almost 100% success. That total includes Student Visas, Visit Visas, Work Visas and many Section 61 cases, which is helping people who are in New Zealand 'unlawfully' to get back onto a lawful visa. We believe by having the professional LIA services, we can better represent New Zealand institutions and provide the complete services to any student or client lawfully and ethically.
We have shared many recommendations from our clients in the past. Recently, we received another reference letter from Miriam of Rutherford College. We have been working with Miriam and her school in the past year and in her very kind letter she shares her very positive comments on our professional work with her school, students, parents and agents. She “highly recommends” us “as a professional and innovative educational agency in the School Sector”. Thanks Miriam!
You can read the letter here.
In the past a few months our representatives have visited and had meetings with many institutions. David and Frank attended the Study in Wellington seminar in Wellington. They had some great meetings with many outstanding institutions. We are very confident that our students would have awesome experience in our “world's coolest capital city”.
David also visited institutions in Nelson-Marlborough region with Education Nelson-Marlborough. We are very happy to welcome Nayland College, Marlborough Boys' College, and Marlborough Girl' College signing up Choose New Zealand membership and choosing to be represented in the following overseas marketing trips.
We have reviewed our Choose New Zealand Education Alliance membership packages and decided to keep the most items the same, especially the pricing. So, all our old or new members can enjoy the same high-quality services with the same price as before.
If you are not ready to commit for a whole year Premier Membership in the selected markets, you can also choose to let us represent you in the single market visit. For example, David Gao, our China marketing manager, is going to China in August after his current trip in China. For institutions who want to be represented in the ENZ Agent Workshops and more Choose New Zealand seminars can just pay $2,500 to keep your voices in the market and in front of all the key agents, parents, and students.
Please feel free to contact us for more information.
The new announcement (on 11th October 2016) will make it a little more difficult for students to get Residence, but should not make a huge difference.
1. The ‘points” requirement for automatic selection has gone from 140 to 160 points (temporarily).
The basic requirement is still to get an offer of a Skilled Job, and for most students that will still be
20 to 30 (age) + 50 (job offer) + 50 (L7 or L8 qualification) = 120 to 130 points
To get the additional points required, students may need some of the following
Study in ‘bonus’ subjects where we have a real shortage (possibly 10 + 10 + 10)
Study at Post Graduate level (1 or 2 years) (10 + 10 or possibly 15)
Work for most of the 3 years permitted after study (possibly 10 + 10 +10)
Get a job out of Auckland (+30)
Have a partner (10 or 20 + possibly 20)
Have close family already resident in NZ (+10)
So, a very good reason to get advice from the experts, and use our Licensed Immigration Adviser services.
2. The English requirement is still IELTS 6.5, but is no longer met by
Studying one year at level 7 in NZ OR
Work in a skilled job for 1 year
So, unless gaining a qualification at L8 (minimum) you will need an IELTS test result less than 2 years old at the time of applying for Residence.
Read more here: http://www.choosenewzealand.com/news-events/how-will-changes-announced-by-immigration-new-zealand-affect-the-study-path/ and more details on Immigration New Zealand website: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/media-centre/news-notifications/new-zealand-residence-programme-changes/nzrp-smc
Our Regional Manager Holly was traveling in Vietnam with our member schools and Education New Zealand. Holly is promoting Choose New Zealand and our schools to more agents and students in workshops and fairs. She has reported back lots of good news and we believe we will achieve more in the future. Looking forward to welcoming more Vietnamese students.
We planned for Bruce to become a Licensed Immigration Adviser so that we could help our students better, with anything from Student Visa applications, right through to Residency. However, we have received a couple of requests from schools for advice about Work Visas for potential off-shore teachers, and given the teaching crisis in the media (see NZ Herald article here) we expect this may grow.
At the same time, we do get enquiries via our website from teachers looking to migrate here, so we are investigating how best we can match that supply and demand. Watch this space!! (But feel free to contact us in the meantime, if you have any specific enquiry.)
Novo has again successfully hosted several groups from China during their summer holidays. This year we have students and parents from Xi’an, Shenzhen, Zhejiang and several other cities and provinces. We helped them enrol and study in many Auckland local schools and organised lots of activities and trips. All Novo staff were really committed to provide them the best study and life experience in New Zealand. With all the positive feedback from our students and parents, we believe we have done a good job again. We hope to see more students coming to have a taste of the real New Zealand education with our short-term programmes.
Novo’s delegates have attended the 2016 New Zealand International Education Conference (NZIEC) held in Auckland, New Zealand on 18, 19 August. This is the 25th NZIEC and the biggest ever. We are very happy to hear the strong growth in the past year and what Education New Zealand, together with many other parties, has achieved internationally. We also have learnt a lot from a wide range of industry experts talking about trends and developments in international education. We all look forward to a strong future. (see Education New Zealand news here)
A delegation from Study Group visited our new office on 17 August. Study Group is a leading international education provider, who own and operate colleges, and also partner with more than 50 universities across the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. The meeting with Manoj Shetty (Executive Director of Global Sales), Alex Chevrolle (Sales Director), Sean Van Wyk (Head of Marketing, University Partnership), and Andrew Lee (Partner Sales Manager, New Zealand) was very productive. We believe the strengthening partnership with Study Group will let us deliver more valuable projects in multiple markets and help more students to achieve their dreams.
We are very pleased to have moved our office recently – but only next door, from 3A to 3C in the same building. We can now better serve our clients in a bigger space. Come and check out our new place if you are in the vicinity.
Novo Education has joined the Auckland Chamber of Commerce to enhance our connection with businesses in Auckland and improve our services we provide to our clients. With the resources and other support from The Chamber we will be able to better serve our students and help them to learn job seeking skills, and connect to potential employers. We are very much looking forward to working further with The Chamber.
Delegates from Novo Education attended the EPIC (Ethnic People in Commence) Conference 2016. The theme of the 2016 conference was Innovation, Diversity and Building Connections, with approximately 300 people of various ethnicities attending.
Ethnic People in Commerce (EPIC) is organised by the Office of Ethnic Communities with private sector sponsorship to promote links between mainstream and ethnic business communities.
Delegates heard from business leaders including Traci Houpapa, Sir George Fistonich and Wei Gao. The Prime Minister, John Key, also spoke at the conference.
New Zealand is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world.
A quarter of all people who call New Zealand home were born overseas and the region is home to more than 200 different ethnicities.
David Gao, our Operations Director of Greater China, is travelling between different cities in China to introduce New Zealand education and Choose New Zealand member schools to students, parents and agents. Here is one photo showing him in a university's lecture room speaking to many students. Well done David!
Novo’s staff were invited to attend the International Day 2016 at Birkenhead College. We are so glad to see four International students enrolled through Novo performing shows in their own culture. Big applause to Birkenhead College and all their students.
As the hub for all our students in New Zealand, Love New Zealand Student Club organised a hike during the Easter Holiday. We went to the Te Henga Walkway in west Auckland. Thirty-five students and parents walked from the bush trail to the cliff top. The stunning views of Auckland's wild west coast amazed one and all. Everyone had a great time together with the beautiful bushes, trees, birds, beaches and water. These activities remind us why we choose and love New Zealand.
Congratulations to our Chairman Bruce Cleland for being approved as a Licensed Immigration Adviser. We can now do more to support our member schools, students, and partners. Please get in contact if you would like talk to us on any visa matter.
As you will know, some years ago New Zealand had concerns about the bad visa advice being given to people by disreputable “advisers” and so now nobody can give any advice about any visa at all, unless they are Licensed, or in special cases, exempt. Off-shore agents are exempt, but only for advice on Student Visas. Strictly speaking, off-shore agents cannot give advice on Guardian Visas, Work Visas (for partners of students), Post Study Work Visas, or Residence.
We are here to help – please get in contact if you would like to work with us on any visa matter.
Because we now hold a license, we will be providing you with more materials during the year about Study, Work and Stay in New Zealand.
As we turn the corner into the last months of 2015, it is a good time to look at the marketing strategies employed over the past year and see what worked and what didn’t. Novo education are here to help, so feel free to send enquiries through to us at info@...
Here are five tips from ICEF monitor (read article here):
1. Put some fresh eyes on your website
Even if those fresh eyes are yours, take a step back, and look at the homepage and other top-level landing pages. Don’t focus so much on what’s wrong; rather, think about the goals you have for your website. How does your website connect to your marketing and recruitment effort? What does it need to do for prospective students, current students, or any other key audiences you are trying to reach?
Generally speaking, a website works if it:
Conveys an attractive brand image;
Spotlights the school or agent’s strengths;
Quickly and easily answers students’ most important questions.
The homepage’s purpose is to welcome the visitor. Remember, less is often more. Is it easy and warm like a reception would be? Foes it answer students questions:
How can I talk to someone about whether I’d feel at home here?
What can I study here?
Can you show me proof this school is worth my investment?
Can I see what other people have said about studying here – can I talk to them?
Will studying here help me get the job I want?
What do I need to do – and when – to have the best chance of getting accepted here?
2. Think about new ways to use video
As we have noted previously, Forrester Research’s Dr. James McQuivey estimates that one minute of video has as much value as 1.8 million words. Another consideration is language: if a main priority market is China, it’s important to have a video delivered in Chinese and on a platform that Chinese viewers can reach (YouTube, for example, is still blocked in China).
3. How are you doing on mobile?
We won’t spend much time talking about how important optimising a website for mobile viewing is, because everyone knows that students are increasingly using their mobile devices for everything. However, we will note that despite all the stats that vividly demonstrate this trend, there are many sites that are still not mobile-ready.
4. Never underestimate the power of a good testimonial
It is a great thing to have a solid bunch of student and alumni testimonials, but even better if each testimonial serves a specific function. Each testimonial packs a punch so it’s better to spread them out over the pages of a site rather than plunking them all down in one spot.
5. Learn some new Facebook moves
In short, it is now very difficult to reach a target audience on Facebook unless you pay for the message by sponsoring it (aka “boosting” it). The good news is, boosting Facebook posts allows you to experiment with messaging and audience, and over time one does end up with a good sense of what content resonates and which falls flat. Beyond boosting, there are other ways to stimulate engagement. Do you know all the tabs and functions you can add to your Facebook page? Not everyone does. And how about built-in calls-to-action?
Original article here.
The team here at Novo Education are specifically here to help you with this sort of thing so do get in touch to find out more info@novodeucation.co.nz
Our phones are working again, YAY! Thank Friday for awesome technicians. You can call our office +64 9520 4329 and email us anytime again.
We are experiencing some technical difficulties.If anyone needs to contact us urgently please phone 022 639 2095. Sorry for any inconvenience and we will let you know as soon as everything is up and running again soon.
Read all about Eric's first week.
We would like to extend a very big warm welcome to Eric our Malyasian Intern, you can read his updates here and on Facebook. Read more to read his first post "My Journey to New Zealand: Day One"
David, our Operations Director of Great China, has been busy and recently returned from China. He visited 10 cities, and held several seminars and workshops to talk to different groups of students. He attended the Education New Zealand Agent Seminars in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to meet the agents there and promote our members. All the agents he met are very interested in our collective platform and keen to work with Choose New Zealand and our member schools. A detailed report is available on our website.
Our Guardianship services are finalised and parents are choosing it, some are on their way and some have arrived. Look here to find out more.
A thorough and informative breakdown of secondary schooling which “is rated one of the best in the world (Legatum Prosperity Index 2013)”. Learn what to look for and what it all really means. Our education system is based on encouraging the enjoyment and discovery of learning, and not forcing memorisation of facts. Full Report here
Emily-Rose, our Service Manager for Latin America has returned from her trip and written a run-down with interesting insights. Read her report here.
David, Our China Regional Manager is having his first trip of this year to China, meeting with Allen, our Xi’an Project manager. A week ago they had two big Choose New Zealand seminars in Xi’an with more than 200 students. By working with several training centers, high schools and universities with whom we have very good relationships, we believe we will achieve very good targets in Xi’an. Now David has gone to Shanghai and Jiangsu region to meet students and their parents and establish more connections with different partners. Then he will head to three Education NZ Agent Seminars in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to promote our Choose New Zealand members. We will update more good news from him there.
(Xi’an is the capital of Shaanxi province, located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It has 8.5 million people and more than 30 universities.)
Emily-Rose, our Student Recruitment and Service Manager for Latin America, has attended several Education New Zealand agent seminars and student fairs in Brazil and Colombia. She’s very excited about the potential future we can have in the Latin American market. Her next and last stop is Chile and we wish she can bring more exciting news back to us.
Holly, our Student Recruitment Manager of Vietnam, has finished her first trip in Vietnam in 2015. She had several agent workshops and student seminars in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City and received very good feedback. We are looking forward to welcoming more Vietnamese students to choose New Zealand as their study destination.
Since we started in May this year, we have had tremendous support from many people, and are really looking forward to getting stuck in to promoting New Zealand, and our members, in 2015. We hope you all have a wonderful Xmas, a happy New Year, and a good holiday. (Our office will be closed from Monday 22nd December 2014 and return on Monday 5th January 2015.)
We have updated the marketing activities of Choose New Zealand in 2015. Check out what we will do to promote your institution overseas:
http://www.novoeducation.co.nz/solutions/marketing-solutions/choose-nz
Record number of agents attended Agent Workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, showing increased popularity of New Zealand as a study destination.
Great response to Education New Zealand campaign to attract students to the annual New Zealand Education Fairs. Over 500 potential students attended in Hanoi, and over 900 in Ho Chi Minh City. Well done Education New Zealand!
Last Friday we had our exhibition booth at the NZIEC Conference, explaining to schools and institutions our plans for the future, and how we can help them. A big thank you to all who visited us there – we had terrific feedback, not just about what we are currently offering, but what we could offer in the future. We look forward to working with many new clients.
New Zealand International Education Conference (NZIEC) August 21-22, in Wellington.
We will have an Exhibitors Booth at this Conference to ensure that everyone knows about Choose New Zealand Education Alliance.
Our new offices: L3 142 Broadway, Newmarket.
Since first starting business in May, we have been in temporary offices in Eden Crescent, but have now moved to our permanent home in Newmarket. We believe that Newmarket is already an important Education “niche” hub, but will become more important with the huge re-development of the nearby Lion site by Auckland University. Please see our photos.
