Edith Cowan University, Griffith University, Monash University, Navitas, UNSW Sydney and the University of Sydney have signed on as inaugural partners of miXagent, a benchmarking initiative developed by the team behind miXabroad.
The project will gather independent, comparable feedback from international students about their experiences with agents, covering the journey from their initial decision to study overseas through to enrolment and arrival.
“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,” said Emily O’Callaghan, CEO and co-founder of miXabroad.
“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.”
According to miXabroad, 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, the organisation said that “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”.
“When students start their international education journey, it’s one of the biggest decisions of their lives,” said O’Callaghan.
Education agents are often critical in supporting students through this early stage of their journey, helping them navigate a range of complexities
Emily O’Callaghan, miXabroad
“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.”
The initiative comes amid an increased focus across international education on agent governance, ethical recruitment and demonstrating quality.
miXagent has been developed in consultation with institutions and industry experts, including an advisory council with expertise spanning agent quality, governance and student experience.
It has also drawn on input from individuals involved in the International Education Association of Australia’s (IEAA) Agent Quality Research Project.
“There has been significant work across the sector to strengthen agent quality and governance,” said O’Callaghan.
“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.”
For participating institutions, the ambition is not only to identify problems, but to recognise agents delivering strong student experiences and establish benchmarks that can be shared across the sector.
Jon Chew, chief insights officer at Navitas, said agents’ influence can begin well before a student reaches campus.
“The advice, guidance and reassurance they provide can have a lasting impact on a student’s confidence and experience,” he said.
“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.”
At the University of Sydney, director international Tim Field said comparable data could help institutions move beyond evaluating agent performance in isolation.
“Strong agent partnerships are built on trust, shared expectations and a commitment to student success,” he said.
“We know many agents are delivering exceptional experiences, and we want to be able to recognise and learn from that.”
Field said hearing directly from students would allow institutions to identify both successful practices and areas for improvement.
“Having access to comparable insights across institutions will also help us lift standards collectively, rather than working in isolation.”
Danielle Hartridge, miXagent advisory council member and co-founder and principal at IES Advisory, said student feedback should become a more fundamental part of agent oversight.
“We cannot genuinely claim to put students at the centre of international education if we are not actively listening to what they tell us,” she said.
“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,” said Hartridge.
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