It’s been a rough year.

Hundreds of thousands of students restricted in some way, restructuring and layoffs amongst our partners, and sometimes even the values we stand for being challenged…

Albert Einstein said:?

Out of chaos, find simplicity.??

From discord, find harmony.??

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.??

We are so grateful for the sector’s broad and passionate support in working together to simplify, harmonise, and capture opportunities to advance our mission to ‘empower the world to choose education’. Fifteen years in, we have accomplished more than we dreamt of; however, there is still so much left to solve, and we are only as good as the purposeful partnerships we can build.? (More about this in the video below)

THANK YOU.?

We have accelerated the growth in both the number and depth of our partnerships in 2024. We also achieved record innovation, with some highlights:

• Sophia was born: the all-knowing AI student advisor with deep, verified knowledge of over 4,000 universities, 118 destination countries, 240,000 study programs, and millions of student journeys. College counselling used to be a privilege for the lucky few, but Sophia is now available to anyone with an internet connection, 24/7, in their mother tongue, and she improves with each interaction. Beyond the conversational interface, Sophia is increasingly powering other platform’s features for our students and universities. I can’t wait to tell you about project ‘Holy Grail’ in next year’s reflection
• From “Learn to Earn”: We have made significant investments in tracking the careers of our recent 1M+ enrolments. We help students understand the career impact of their education decisions. Soon, we’ll enable them to search not just for what they want to study, but for what they want to become. A unique, fast-growing dataset of international graduates and their global career paths has already been built, allowing universities and governments to understand graduate outcomes, benchmark stay rates, and analyse employment trends post-graduation.
• Make no mistake, despite having the sector’s best data and AI, Studyportals remains a people’s business first and foremost. We have taken personal support to the next level by launching our highly anticipated strategic consulting unit. This unit couples the sector’s best consultants with the latest tech and the most predictive data to serve our clients with the highest possible impact and efficiency.
• Full journey support:?Since 2022, we have been expanding our relevance across all phases of the student journey, beyond just university choice. This year, we completed a comprehensive infrastructure build to measure which phase our users are in and to reach them with the right support and content, at the right time, in the right form – elevating our value to students and enhancing the power of our nurturing and partnerships.
• In collaboration with many of you, we have released informative data and insights to the sector, enabling better and faster understanding and decision-making. Our English-Taught-Programme Trends reports for Global, Europe, and Online Education, the Global Enrolment benchmark, Election impact, Diversification Guidebook, and many more have had unparalleled impact, triggering discussions and articles in very top sector and mainstream media.
• Despite strong headwinds, our platform achieved a 21% year-over-year growth in new registrations, demonstrating our growth in student reach
• 2025 is around the corner. Join our ‘Big Bright January’ initiative to start the year stronger than ever and support learners in #FindingTheirFuture during the month they seek it the most. Furthermore, it is once again the year of the Global Student Satisfaction Awards – get in touch with us early to optimally engage with this massive movement to recognize and improve excellence in student experience. After all, what matters more than that?

To everyone in Higher Education and internationalisation, I say this: our sector is cyclical, so hang in there. Think long-term and keep doing what’s right. The challenges we face today are temporary, but the impact you make is lasting. Let us continue to inspire, to innovate, and to invest in a better future, and a more connected world. Now more than ever!

Wishing you a peaceful, prosperous and purposeful New Year!??