A NZ$2.5 million support service aims to help more schools recruit, enrol and retain international students, with the government looking beyond institutions that already have established programmes.
New Zealand is investing up to NZ$2.5 million to help more schools enter and expand the international education market, with a new support service set to begin from the 2027 school year.
Education Minister Erica Stanford announced that academyEX has been selected as the preferred provider to deliver the service, following a tender process led by Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ).
The initiative is designed to address a familiar challenge across international education: the opportunities may be clear, but not every provider has the capacity, expertise or networks needed to take advantage of them.
While some New Zealand schools have well-established international student programmes, others face practical barriers to entering the market or growing their existing enrolments. These include limited recruitment and student support capabilities, difficulties building international networks and the challenge of securing suitable homestay accommodation.
The new service will provide participating schools with practical tools, templates, training, coaching and advisory support across the international student journey, from recruitment and enrolment through to student care.
Importantly, the programme will be tailored to individual schools, supporting both those enrolling international students for the first time and those looking to expand existing operations.
“This support is not limited to schools that already have well-established international programmes,” Stanford said. “We want more schools to benefit from the opportunities international education offers, while continuing to build capability across the school sector.”
Around 611 schools in New Zealand currently enrol international students. The government wants to increase that number, spreading the benefits of international education beyond the schools and communities already participating.
The approach also recognises that growing international enrolments is not simply a matter of attracting students. Schools need the systems, staff, accommodation arrangements and support structures to deliver a positive experience once students arrive.
That distinction matters. Recruitment can generate enrolments, but retaining students and maintaining confidence among families and overseas partners depends on what happens after the offer is accepted.
academyEX will work with stakeholders across the international education sector to shape and deliver the service, drawing on existing expertise within schools to encourage collaboration and peer learning.
The emphasis on sharing knowledge could prove particularly valuable for schools without established international networks. Rather than requiring every school to develop its own systems from scratch, the service aims to make existing sector experience more accessible.
The initiative is also part of a broader economic strategy. New Zealand’s International Education Going for Growth Plan targets 105,000 international student enrolments by 2027 and aims to grow international education export earnings to NZ$7.2 billion by 2034.
Expanding the schools sector offers another avenue for pursuing those ambitions, while potentially distributing the economic and cultural benefits of international education more widely.
For schools, international enrolments can provide additional revenue while creating opportunities for domestic students to develop global perspectives and connections through everyday interactions with peers from other countries.
However, the success of the initiative will depend on more than the number of schools that sign up. The support will need to translate into sustainable programmes, adequate student welfare arrangements and experiences that justify the confidence placed in New Zealand schools by students, families and education partners.
There will also be a question of how effectively the service reaches schools that face the greatest barriers, rather than primarily benefiting those already best positioned to expand.
Funding for a capability-building service across the schooling sector was announced in May 2026. The contract with academyEX begins in October 2026, with ENZ responsible for overseeing the contract and implementation.
For a government seeking to grow international education, the initiative represents a practical attempt to broaden participation at the school level. The challenge now is to turn that additional capability into more opportunities for schools, more choice for international families and a consistently strong student experience.
