Hosted at the University of Sheffield, this exclusive two-day event brought together international office leaders, compliance specialists, and sector innovators to explore how universities can respond to the Agent Quality Framework (AQF) and strengthen the quality, transparency, and impact of their international student recruitment.

Exploring global trends, data-led decision-making, and practical strategies to professionalise agent engagement was the subtext of the sessions, with the aim of ensuring institutions are ready to meet the next phase of compliance and performance expectations.

Insights and Keynote Speeches

The Conference kick-off was with some very interesting insights presented by Donna Ball, Senior Partnerships Director at Study Portals. Donna shared data from across multiple markets and study levels, demonstrating the shifts in demand, which helped set the scene for the day’s discussions. Our sessions were designed to help colleagues cascade ideas from a strategic level to operational outcomes.

Andrew Bird, Chair of BUILA, PVC & CMO at Southampton Solent University delivered the first of the 2 keynote speeches, crucially addressing how the UK sector has responded to the AQF. Andrew focused on the UK remaining a priority destination for overseas students, despite historical competitor destination markets increasing their activities and new destinations coming online. Global demographics and student mobility trends represent continuing and long-term opportunities for the UK HE sector.

Whilst the AQF and connected university pledges have gone some way to address longstanding claims of International HE being unregulated, disorganised and a free for all, more needs to be done by institutions and a sector collectively to put AQF requirements at the forefront of policy and strategy, embedded in how we work and not a tick box exercise.

Andrew argued that he didn’t feel the government had intent to establish stringent regulation or inhibit the sector, and that the AQF should be used as a framework to establish better practice, with institutions having more oversight and accountability of their overseas recruitment networks and that this should be visible and auditable. This would satisfy government and reestablish trust between Whitehall and the sector.

Jacqui Jenkins, Director of Networks & Engagement at the PIE & Former British Council Global Lead, Int. Student Mobility delivered the second keynote and spoke widely about how the UK government is keen to see rigourous vetting of agents, with a firm grip on training and management. Transparency was a key feature of her speech with everything being studentcentred.

Jacqui indicated that things may get tighter considering public perception and mood during the summer of 2025 which led to initatives such as ‘operation raise the flag’. The key message however, focused on ‘co-regulation’ rather than self-regulation, where the sector needs to work with government to ensure the rules set out by universities (in the pledge) are actually being followed.

A highlight of the conference was our headline panel discussion, Translating AQF into Institutional Strategy, moderated by Enzo Ramio. The session brought together senior university leaders and sector experts to explore how the Agent Quality Framework (AQF) can move beyond policy into practical, institution-wide approaches.

Panellists shared perspectives on embedding AQF principles into contract management, agent performance reviews, compliance processes, and student experience strategies. The discussion emphasised that the AQF is not simply a compliance exercise, but an opportunity to build trust, transparency, and long-term value in global recruitment partnerships.

The session gave delegates practical takeaways on how to interpret the AQF in their own contexts and highlighted the role of digital solutions—such as SAMS360—in supporting evidencebased decision-making and sector accountability.

Panellists’ Sessions