The 2025 Student Experience Survey International Report gives the sector plenty to be pleased about. International students rated their overall educational experience at record highs: 76.8% positive for undergraduates and 77.5% for postgraduate coursework students. All five areas the survey measures (Skills Development, Learning Resources, Teaching Quality, Student Support and Peer Engagement) reached their highest ratings on record at both levels. The share of international students who considered leaving their institution fell to a record low of about 12%.
One number deserves more attention than it will get.
Belonging is improving, but it's still the weakest result
Sense of belonging also reached an all-time high: 59.1% for international undergraduates and 62.2% for postgraduates. But even at its best, it sits well below everything else.
For international undergraduates, the other five areas range from 74.2% (Peer Engagement) to 85.1% (Skills Development). The pattern holds for postgraduates, where every other area sits between 78.0% and 88.1%. Roughly four in ten international students at both levels (40.9% of undergraduates, 37.8% of postgraduates) don't rate their sense of belonging to their institution positively.
The National Report explains why that matters. Belonging has historically been rated low compared with the rest of the student experience. It also tracks closely with how students rate their overall experience, their support services and their teaching.
Being on campus isn't the same as belonging
International students spend far more time on campus than domestic students, because their visa conditions require at least some in-person study. Being there does help. Nationally, undergraduates who attend all their classes on campus rate belonging at 54.4%, against 45.5% for those studying hybrid and 40.5% for those studying entirely online.
But presence alone isn't enough. International students are the group most likely to be on campus, and four in ten still don't rate their belonging positively. The gap between being there and belonging there is where institutions have room to act.
The data offers another clue. International students at non-university providers rate belonging higher than those at universities: 63.0% against 57.4% for undergraduates, and 69.5% against 60.5% for postgraduates. The report doesn't say why. A reasonable guess is that smaller, more contained campuses make it easier for students to find each other.
The flexibility trade-off
Many institutions are expanding hybrid and flexible delivery, and students value it. Among international undergraduates enrolled in campus-based courses, 45% already mix online and on-campus classes.
The national data is a caution. Undergraduate belonging nationally is still below its pre-2020 level (48.0% against 52.0%), and QILT links part of that to how much students now study online. At postgraduate level, where 53% of domestic students study externally, domestic belonging sits at 39.6% against 62.2% for international students.
These are correlations, not proof of cause. But the direction is consistent: flexibility that reduces time on campus may cost belonging in ways that take years to show.
Why students think about leaving
Among international undergraduates who considered leaving, the most common reasons were financial difficulties (30.7%), stress (30.6%) and mental health (30.4%). Another 17.5% cited a lack of connection to their institution. For postgraduates, financial difficulties top the list too (28.9%), followed by unmet course expectations (27.5%) and stress (25.4%).
For these students, cost and connection are closely linked. When money is tight, a student who can't afford to spend time on campus between classes goes home. The time between classes is exactly when students meet the people who make the place feel like theirs.
What institutions can actually influence
Belonging isn't built at orientation. It's built through consistent, daily moments: having a reason to stay on campus between classes, somewhere to be with other people that isn't a classroom, and daily basics students can afford on a part-time wage.
That's the part of campus Ventra works on. At Charles Sturt University's Sydney and Melbourne campuses, delivered by Navitas, students get specialty-grade coffee priced well below typical café rates, and nobody on campus has to manage it.
We won't claim coffee fixes belonging. It doesn't, and this data couldn't show that it does. But it is one of the small daily reasons to stay on campus. It's also one of the few an institution can put in place in weeks rather than years.
If you're at AIEC in Sydney from 27–30 October, come and find us at Stand 111. We'd like to hear what's working on your campus.
Sources: QILT, 2025 Student Experience Survey International Report, National Report and International Report data tables. Figures refer to international students unless stated otherwise.