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Taiwan Market introduction

Last updated July 2011

Market environment

Taiwan has a relatively isolated position in the world with few countries recognising its status as an independent country because of the political sensitivities of Taiwan’s relationships with China. Despite the long existing dispute regarding sovereignty, Taiwan presents as an important economic entity and a significant sending country to the UK with more than 5,500 students enrolled in the higher education sector each year.   

Taiwan has close ties with the UK in certain areas such as IT, finance, education and so on. More than 180 Taiwanese companies set operation centres in the UK, accounting for 70 per cent of Taiwanese manufacturing investment in Europe. In the mean time, the local market has revitalised to a degree and it shows positive figures as follows, GNP per capita sees USD 21,548 (USD 19,155 in 2010), unemployment rate hit the record low by 4.72 per cent (May 2011) since the financial crisis in 2008 and year-on-year growth rate expects a 5.06 per cent throughout the year, contributing to industrial exports, import demands and domestic consumptions.

In 2008, Taiwan for the second time witnessed political change which resulted in KMT (Kuomintang) replacing DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) as the ruling party when the current President Ma, Yin-Jeou won the presidential election. President Ma now undertakes improvements of domestic economy as well as enhancement of cross-strait relationships under the strategy known as ‘flexible diplomacy’ to further engage in international activities and with relevant organisations. This indicates a relatively healthy and steady relationship with China which contributes to a more open environment for bilateral trades and investments.

As a heavily-populated island, Taiwan holds 23 million people (2010) who mostly live in metropolitan areas including Taipei, the capital, Kaohsiung in the South, and Taichung in central Taiwan. Its citizens are highly-educated with 3.98 million holding a bachelor’s degree (2010). The increasing number of master/doctoral degree holders is estimated to hit 1 million by the end of 2011. The local workforce consists of talents with high level of education and is a great asset to Taiwan.

In the increasingly competitive economic environment an educated population is Taiwan’s chief resource. Meanwhile, there are growing emphases placed on the value of international education, creative thinking, knowledge of global management and English language skills. These priorities are therefore reflected in the government’s efforts to internationalise its higher education sector, which aims to reinforce the quality and competitiveness of both students and institutions so as to best accommodate the market trends.

Market characteristics

The structure of the educational system is modelled on the American system of six-year elementary, three-year junior high and three-year (senior) high schools, two- and five-year junior colleges and four-year universities, with a traditional Chinese emphasis on examinations. Universities, two-year technology college, and other four-year higher education institutions in Taiwan offer first degrees generally after two to four years of study. Dental and medical programmes can take five to seven years to complete. They operate a credit system on the American pattern which allows students to take a wide range of courses while studying with the institutions, and students are required to complete a set of compulsory and selective modules to gain sufficient number of credits that could lead to their graduation. Domestically there is an overprovision of university places. In academic year 2010/11, there were 163 higher education institutions in Taiwan: 112 universities, 36 independent colleges, and 15 junior colleges. Consequently, Taiwan has very high participation rates in higher education. In the academic year 2010/11, over 95 percent of senior high school graduates chose to continue to higher education. As part of its internationalisation efforts, the government has a stated aim to develop Taiwan to be a bilingual country and teaching of English is high on the agenda. Traditionally it was introduced as a compulsory subject starting from junior high school. Since 2001, English has been brought forward to be included in the fifth grade curriculum at the national level, and in some cities English is introduced at an even earlier stage in the elementary schools.

As a country competing in the global market, overseas study is regarded a way to ensure better career prospects in a competitive labour market and is much sought after by perspective students. The current size of study abroad market in Taiwan is around 33,000 students per year. With its strong links to Taiwan across sectors that were derived from the close historical and political ties, the USA impresses students from Taiwan, attracting around 16,000 students per year to study with its institutions. Australia and Canada successfully engaged with the market through their ‘Work Holiday’ programmes, which has had impacts on the market for studying English overseas. China, following the relaxation on regulations regarding the recognition of degrees awarded by its universities, has now become one of the host countries that attract students’ attention. Nevertheless, UK is currently the second most popular study destination. Each year it received more than 5,500 students for higher education and provides English learning courses to cater the market which has over 8 per cent increase in 2011.

Taiwan is a mature market and the infrastructure of educational agents is well developed, though individual agents vary in size and quality. It is estimated that there are hundreds of agents registered in Taiwan, of which 39 are members of the Agent’s Club run by the British Council Taipei in 2011.

One of the barriers to the UK education providers is that according to local regulations, foreign qualifications gained through distance learning are not recognised by the government of Taiwan. Currently any course leading to a degree awarded by a foreign university must include a residential element with a substantial period of study. However, recent Ministry of Education guidelines allow more flexibility for Taiwanese and overseas universities to collaborate on the delivery of dual and joint programmes which could open up more opportunities for the academic link development.

Market opportunities

The market for UK education is predominantly postgraduate, with around 80 per cent of HE recruits studying taught Masters (around 60 per cent) and research degrees (around 20 per cent). The established pattern for many Taiwanese students is to study for a first degree in Taiwan (where university places are in oversupply although competition for places at the more prestigious universities is intense), and then to study at postgraduate level overseas. The UK on the whole does well because of its offer of wide variety of courses, particularly the one-year taught Masters. We expect the postgraduate market to continue to be the focus in Taiwan market, particularly in the more popular subject, which tend to be technical and vocational, such as Management studies, Marketing, Business, Arts & Design, Education, English and Finance.

EFL is the second largest market, since the visa-waiver announcement made in March 2009, EFL market has seen a growth at 19 per cent with demands for English for academic purpose, exam preparation, English Plus and business English. In addition, English languages combined with vocational training elements have been identified as a small but steady market for further education colleges and some English language providers.

There is a smaller undergraduate market of around 20 per cent of the total and there may be opportunities to expand this sector in the face of stiff competition from the US and increasingly from mainland China, which is reported to be recruiting 5,000 or more Taiwanese students a year.

The Taiwanese government continues to devote to internalisation of higher education so as to further cultivate the sector’s competitiveness through collaboration with foreign counterparts as well as supports and funding available for academic programmes and research projects. There are growing opportunities for UK institutions to develop collaborative links with higher education institutions in Taiwan for programmes like joint or dual degrees. In all sectors of the market it is important for education providers to present their product clearly and to place themselves competitively. Taiwanese are sophisticated consumers and will expect information about institution rankings, reputation, quality of courses, and tuition fees and so on. Results from some surveys also show that a major driver for undertaking an overseas study is the perceived marketability of the qualification. UK alumni who have returned to Taiwan are valuable advocators of the education they received in the UK and institutions are advised to include alumni as part of their in-country marketing plan.

Our infrastructure and strategic education priorities

The British Council in Taiwan maintains staff at the premise in Taipei. Our Taipei office is located in XinYi district diagonally opposite Taipei 101, the distinctive landmark feature of Taipei and one of the world's tallest buildings. Our work is substantially focused on education, English language and examinations, and our information centre in Taipei opens to the public seven days a week, with e-mail enquiry handling services available Monday to Friday.  

The Taiwan Education Promotion Scheme is an independent subscription service separate from the British Council’s central Education UK Partnership (EUKP), with which it has close links. In the year 2011/12, we have 95 member institutions ranging from higher education institutions, EFL schools, independent schools and further education colleges. In order to ensure that our services correspond properly to members’ priorities as well as in line with the mainstream services provided by the Partnerships, we maintain close contacts with our members through a team of account managers so as to make timely improvements of our operation and services.

DCSIMG