New sector-led benchmarking initiative, miXagent, will help demonstrate the value of education agents, recognise excellence and strengthen the international student experience.
Six leading Australian education providers have joined forces to support a new benchmarking initiative designed to put student experience at the centre of education agent quality, recognition and continuous improvement.
Developed by the team behind miXabroad, miXagent will provide institutions with independent, comparable student feedback on the role and impact of education agents, from students' initial decisions to study abroad through to enrolment and arrival.
The initiative is being launched with Edith Cowan University, Griffith University, Monash University, Navitas, UNSW Sydney and the University of Sydney as inaugural institutional partners.
Education agents play a vital role in international education, connecting students with study opportunities, helping them navigate complex decisions and supporting their transition to studying in another country. Yet despite their significant contribution to international education, there remains limited independent, comparable evidence capturing how students experience and value the advice and support they receive.
miXagent aims to address this gap, establishing a shared evidence base to help institutions recognise excellence, strengthen agent partnerships, inform decision-making and demonstrate the value of education agents to governments, industry and the wider community.
Recognising the value of education agents
Emily O'Callaghan, CEO and Co-founder of miXabroad, said the initiative was designed to support both stronger institutional decision-making and greater recognition of the contribution education agents make to international education.
"When students start their international education journey, it's one of the biggest decisions of their lives. Education agents are often critical in supporting students through this early stage of their journey, helping them navigate a range of complexities. With miXagent, we're creating an opportunity to better understand what quality support looks like and where improvements are needed.
Education agents make an enormous contribution to international education, and we need better evidence to demonstrate that value to governments, policymakers and the broader community. By bringing the student voice into that conversation, we can move beyond anecdotes and build a much stronger understanding of the impact agents have on students' decision-making, preparedness and early experiences."
A collaborative approach to strengthening agent quality
The development of miXagent has been shaped through consultation with education institutions and industry experts, including a dedicated Advisory Council bringing together expertise in education agent quality, governance, ethical recruitment and student experience.
The initiative has also benefited from the contributions of individuals involved in the International Education Association of Australia's (IEAA) Agent Quality Research Project, including members of its Steering Committee, building on important research and quality improvement work already undertaken across the sector.
"We're incredibly grateful to our Advisory Council and the many industry colleagues who have generously shared their expertise to help shape miXagent," O'Callaghan said.
"There has been significant work across the sector to strengthen agent quality and governance. We see miXagent as adding another important piece to that picture: a consistent, independent measure of how students themselves experience the advice and support they receive."
Institutions working together to celebrate excellence
The six inaugural partners will help establish a common approach to measuring the student experience of education agents, providing a foundation for institutional benchmarking and shared learning across the sector.
Jon Chew, Chief Insights Officer at Navitas, said education agents were essential partners in helping international students make informed choices and successfully transition to university life.
"Our education agent partners play an incredibly important role in supporting students, often long before they arrive on campus. The advice, guidance and reassurance they provide can have a lasting impact on a student's confidence and experience.
We're excited about the opportunity miXagent provides to better understand those experiences, celebrate the great work happening across our agent network, and work collaboratively with our partners to identify and share best practice. Ultimately, this is about ensuring every student receives the quality advice and support they deserve."
Tim Field, Director, International at the University of Sydney, said the benchmark would provide a valuable new source of evidence to support quality improvement and stronger partnerships.
"Strong agent partnerships are built on trust, shared expectations and a commitment to student success. We know many agents are delivering exceptional experiences, and we want to be able to recognise and learn from that.
miXagent gives us an opportunity to hear directly from students about what matters most to them, understand where our partnerships are working well and identify opportunities to make the journey even better. Having access to comparable insights across institutions will also help us lift standards collectively, rather than working in isolation."
Putting student experience at the heart of governance
The initiative has also been welcomed by international education governance and quality assurance experts as an important step towards a more evidence-based approach to agent oversight. Danielle Hartridge, miXagent Advisory Council member and Co-Founder and Principal at IES Advisory, said:
"We cannot genuinely claim to put students at the centre of international education if we are not actively listening to what they tell us. The student voice should not be an afterthought in education agent governance; it should be one of its foundations. miXagent offers an exciting opportunity to make student experience a measurable and meaningful part of how we evaluate quality, accountability and good practice across the sector."
To find out more about miXagent, visit mixabroad.com/miXagent
Or, get in touch:
Emily O'Callaghan
CEO, miXabroad
emily@mixabroad.com
+61 403 746 628
book a meeting.