In international education, conversations about students often happen without them. We analyse enrolment trends, debate regulatory settings, and refine academic benchmarks, yet the lived experience of the cohort at the centre of these discussions can easily become lost in macro-level policy debates.
International students bring extraordinary talent, ambition, and global perspective to Australia. They are essential contributors to our campuses, local communities, and future workforce. However, as the sector navigates ongoing structural shifts and heightened focus on student outcomes, we need to ask ourselves a fundamental question: are we providing international students with a platform to actively shape the ecosystem they are joining?
It was this exact challenge that led to the creation of Pearson’s inaugural International Student Advisory Board (ISAB). Established as a sector-first advisory forum, ISAB brings together recognised student advocates, council leaders, peer mentors, and community connectors from across Australia. The initiative was designed with a single overarching goal: to ensure student leaders actively inform how our sector approaches education, employability, and community integration.
ISAB member Diego Luna reflected on his own transition: “When I moved from Mexico to Australia, I quickly realised that being an international student is about so much more than studying. It’s about finding your place, building a community, navigating a completely new culture, and discovering who you become along the way. We don’t just experience the education system, we live it every day.”
Lessons from ISAB: Beyond the entry requirement
In ISAB’s inaugural session and accompanying insight paper, From Proficiency to Participation, student leaders zeroed in on a fundamental disconnect in the current sector dialogue. Much of the public debate focuses heavily on entry benchmarks and readiness. While establishing clear academic foundations is vital, treating language entry scores as a finish line misses the broader reality of the student journey.
Much of the public debate surrounding international education focuses heavily on entry benchmarks and readiness. While establishing clear academic foundations is vital, treating language entry scores as a finish line misses the broader reality of the student journey.
Passing an assessment indicates that a student possesses the language capability required to succeed in their studies. It opens the door. But as our ISAB members emphasised, the real work begins afterwards. This includes how effectively international students participate in tutorials, navigate local cultural contexts, build professional networks, and thrive in Australian workplaces.
Another ISAB member, Aashish Neupane, captured this transition by saying that “the journey extends far beyond gaining admission. It’s also about building confidence, finding a sense of belonging, navigating unfamiliar systems, and preparing for life after study.”
Language proficiency provides a core capability, but participation determines how far a student can go once they arrive and that’s where cultural nuances and references, as well as understanding of slang and humour for example all play a role. High academic benchmarks mean very little if students encounter barriers to active engagement once on campus or in the workforce.
When students feel confident using their skills in real-world settings, from group projects and clinical placements to everyday social interactions and part-time employment, their capacity to contribute thrives. The challenge for the sector is not simply setting entry standards, but creating environments that foster genuine belonging and active participation from day one, with success coming from successful partnership between students and institutions.
Co-designing solutions through lived experience
To address these challenges, institutions and providers must listen directly to those experiencing them. The strength of a structured forum like ISAB lies in its capacity to translate raw lived experience into actionable, practical recommendations for institutions, employers, professional bodies, and government.
When you create a dedicated space for student leaders, the insights surfaced are both illuminating and constructive. Board members highlighted where support services hit the mark, where navigation barriers remain, and how industry can bridge the gap between study and graduate employability.
For instance, ISAB discussions revealed how frequently international students navigate complex, unwritten nuances when transitioning between academic study and local workplace culture. By surfacing these insights directly through student leadership, the sector can refine how it delivers career readiness, mentoring, and practical training, ensuring students are not just academically prepared, but workplace ready.
Elevating the student voice as a strategic priority
Student success relies heavily on connection, communication, and practical opportunity. Elevating the international student voice should not be viewed as a soft policy objective or a one-off consultation. Platforms like ISAB demonstrate that ongoing student representation is a core strategic priority.
When student voices actively inform institutional settings and sector conversations, the entire ecosystem benefits:
- For institutions: Student-led insights enable more targeted, effective support services, improving retention, satisfaction, and academic outcomes.
- For employers: A clearer understanding of the international student journey helps unlock a diverse, highly motivated talent pool to address critical skills shortages.
- For the community: Authentic integration fosters stronger social cohesion, cultural exchange, and long-term connection to Australia.
A shared responsibility
Ensuring international students succeed is a shared responsibility across the sector, as well as for the students themselves. Education providers, industry partners, and policy makers must work collaboratively to ensure students have the tools, networks, and platforms required to fully participate in Australian life.
As a sector, we should be bold in placing international students front and centre of our planning. That means being willing to listen, adapt, and co-design the future of the international student experience alongside the very people living it.
English proficiency opens the door. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that once students walk through it, the path to full participation, meaningful employment, and long-term success remains wide open.
What comes next
The ISAB will continue to generate student-led insights. Future meetings will focus on:
- Transition to Work: Understanding the communication, employability and workplace readiness challenges faced by international graduates.
- AI & The Future of Work: Examining how artificial intelligence is changing the way students learn, work and prepare for future careers.
Read more about the insights and learnings from the first session here.
Matthew Lampkin is the Director APAC, English Language Learning at Pearson.
