Education to Japan
(Last updated: 23 Nov 2011)
Trends and opportunities
The market
Background to the Australia-Japan education relationship
Australia’s education relationship with Japan remains strong despite a steady decline in student visa numbers since 2005. Nowadays, the average Japanese student is more likely to travel to Australia on a Working Holiday or Tourist Visa to undertake short-term study rather than complete a full degree course.
Australia continues to be the premier destination for school study tours and working holiday makers from Japan. At the higher education level, the number of university-to-university linkages between the two countries underpins a deep engagement with Australia being Japan’s third-largest partner in this regard behind the USA and China.
Overview of the Japan market
For the Australian education sector, Japan remains an attractive market owing to the diverse study options across different fields of learning Japanese students pursue, the high rate of ‘repeaters’, and the commitment by institutions in Japan to developing long-lasting relationships with their Australian partners.
In recent years, the popularity of study abroad amongst Japanese youth has been in decline to all of Australia’s competitors – with the exception of China, which is seen as having strong job opportunities for Japanese graduates. This offers a valuable clue regarding the priorities of youth in Japan today; namely, undertaking study that leads to securing a job offer. In Japan, students graduating from higher education and VET institutions in 2011 encountered the most difficult job hunting climate on record, and this situation seems set to continue.
A mismatch between graduate skills and employer needs has been identified by the government, business, and academics as being the biggest barrier to employment for Japanese youth. Employers are increasingly demanding globally-literate recruits, or global human capital (GHC), for which the Japanese higher education in particular has been unable to develop. The qualities most sought after in graduates centre on:
- English language ability with real world applicability
- Cross-cultural understanding, diversity in thinking, and an ability to adapt to different environments
- Global leadership skills to lead the development and expansion of overseas markets, and to transfer that know-how to local staff
As a result, universities have begun pouring resources into internationalising their campuses by recruiting international students and introducing courses taught in English into their curricula. However, undertaking study abroad is still seen as necessary to developing global literacies. To this end, the Japanese Government is providing scholarships for higher education students to study abroad, and companies are supplementing in-house training programs with overseas business English and executive training courses for their staff.
Austrade’s focus in 2011-12
In addition to promoting and marketing study in Australia in a broad sense, Austrade will be placing particular emphasis on the following areas in the 2011-12 financial year:
- Promoting Australia as a GHC development destination. Austrade has already begun opening up new market opportunities for Australian higher education and ELICOS providers in corporate training and professional development.
- Step Up in Australia: In collaboration with Tourism Australia, a new GHC web portal launched to re-position English language schools in Australia the working holiday maker program as an opportunity for Japanese youth to gain the skills they need to make them competitive in the job market.
- Shoring up Australia as the top destination for school study tours by undertaking promotional activities in regions where Austrade has yet to carry out marketing and promotional activities.
- Working with partners in the Japanese market to promote Australia’s VET sector and the job-ready skills Japanese students can acquire.
- Assisting AEI to promote the Prime Minister’s $500,000 financial assistance package allocated for student, academic and researcher exchanges with Japanese universities in earthquake-affected areas.
Numbers at a glance:
- 34,800 Japanese students travelled to Australia on school study tours in 2008
- 11,818 Japanese on Student Visa undertook study in Australia in 2010
- ELICOS: 4,915
- VET: 3,263
- Higher Education: 2,432
- Schools: 794
- Other (Non-Award Courses, Enabling Courses): 414
- 8,605 Japanese working holiday makers travelled to Australia in 2009-10
For further information on the opportunities in the Japanese market, and access to market research produced by Austrade Japan, please subscribe to Austrade’s Market Information Package.
Marketing your products and services
Promoting Australian education in Japan
The demand for developing global literacies is growing in Japan at all levels of students’ education. Australian providers will need to focus on articulating marketing messages that respond to such questions as, “Why study in Australia?”; “How will studying in Australia help me develop my global literacy skills?”; and, “How will studying in Australia prepare me for the job market on my return to Japan?”. Responses should include mention of the distinct advantages that Australia offers over major competitors such as the USA and the UK:
- Australian campuses and schools provide a truly international environment – with a higher average of domestic to international student ratio than any other country – and will help develop Japanese students’ ‘global English’ and cross-cultural communication skills.
- Australia’s close business connectivity with Asia and large international student body provides opportunities for Japanese students to develop a global network of contacts from countries of relevance to Japan.
- The time-zone difference of only 30 minutes to two hours between Australia and Japan offers another distinct advantage. For parents, this offers a sense of comfort knowing that they can easily contact their children. For companies sending their staff to Australia for training, they can utilise staff time outside of class time.
Contact details
The Australian Trade Commission – Austrade – is the Australian Government’s trade, investment and education promotion agency.
Through a global network of offices, Austrade assists Australian companies to grow their international business, attracts productive foreign direct investment into Australia and promotes Australia’s education sector internationally.
For more information on how Austrade can assist you, contact us on:
Australia ph: 13 28 78 | Email: info@austrade.gov.au
A list of Austrade offices (in alphabetical order of country) is also available.