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Times Higher Education magazine has joined forces with the Chinese Ministry of Education and the international student placement company IDP Education to host the region¡¯s first World University Rankings Symposium.

The symposium, which will take place in Beijing on 13 March 2014, will bring together leading Chinese universities, ministry of education officials and education experts as well as the media, to discuss the growing influence of global rankings on student decision-making.

Times Higher Education rankings editor Phil Baty will present on the methodology of the rankings, and join a round table discussion designed to help students and their families better understand the rankings to make informed international study choices.

IDP Education Group, owner of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), has over the last 40 years helped more than 400,000 international students find suitable international education placements. It has sponsored the Times Higher Education World University Rankings since 2010.

In 2012, a study of international students by IDP found that more named ¡°international ranking/reputation of the institution¡± as the most important consideration in choosing where to study than they did any other factor.

Asked to name the single most important consideration when choosing an institution, 33 per cent of respondents opted for the ¡°international ranking/reputation¡± of an institution. The second most important consideration was that the institution be "internationally recognised by potential employers", named by 21 per cent of respondents. Some 14.9 per cent said that ¡°attractive course structure/content¡± was most important to them.

The study also found that the Times Higher Education global rankings were the most widely recognised and most widely used of all the global ranking systems.

¡°It is clear that the Times Higher Education World University Rankings have become hugely influential, not just at the geo-political level where they are informing government policy and university strategy, but also at the consumer level, where our trusted data is helping to influence student choices,¡± said Mr Baty.

¡°Students and their families from all around the world come to our website in their millions, and we are determined to help them get the most out of the rich, rigorous data we have ¨C and that includes helping them better understand the metrics we use, and helping them to drill down beneath the composite scores and make more informed choices.

¡°So we are delighted that our valued partners at IDP and the Ministry of Education are to host this exciting, landmark event in one of the world¡¯s most important student markets ¨C China.¡±
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For more details on the first World University Rankings Symposium in Beijing on 13 March 2014, please contact Amy Ma at IDP China: amy.ma@idp.com