EDU Holdings Reports Record Enrolments as Ikon Institution Growth Gathers Pace

EDU Holdings (ASX: EDU) has reported record enrolments for the third trimester of 2025 at its higher education business Ikon Institute, marking another strong performance as the company continues to expand its tertiary footprint.

Ikon’s total student enrolments surged 82% year-on-year to 4,537, while new enrolments climbed 15% to 1,072.

The increase also represents a 51% rise compared with Trimester 2, confirming ongoing demand across Ikon’s counselling, psychotherapy, and allied health programs.

Consistent Growth Across Multiple Intakes

Successive strong student intakes that have compounded as continuing students overlap with new cohorts have driven Ikon’s growth.

The company said its latest figures demonstrate the depth of demand for Ikon’s programs and its ability to retain students through to graduation.

Enrolments have also benefited from the launch of four new courses this year, including the institute’s first postgraduate program.

These new offerings accounted for 17% of Trimester 3 enrolments, compared with 6% in the previous period, confirming early traction with both domestic and international students.

Regulatory and Policy Landscape

The strong performance comes amid tightening regulation in the international education sector.

Although the proposed Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 was not enacted as planned in January, Ministerial Direction 111 continues to influence offshore student visa processing.

Under the direction, a provider can designate applications up to 80% of its National Planning Limit as high priority, then process the remaining applications at a standard rate.

The government has recently increased the National Planning Limit for 2026 by 25,000 places to 295,000, while most private providers — including Ikon — received individual limit increases of around 3%.

EDU said most of Ikon’s new international students continue to be recruited onshore, which provides resilience against offshore visa processing fluctuations.

Momentum Continues to Build

The latest figures follow EDU’s update last week showing that Ikon’s year-to-date enrolments had already more than doubled from the prior year to 11,494 students.

That earlier report also revealed a 109% increase in total enrolments and a 40% rise in new enrolments across 2025 to date.

EDU believes the trend highlights the strength of Ikon’s brand and the success of its targeted expansion strategy, which combines new courses with a disciplined focus on student outcomes.

Chief executive officer Adam Davis said the consistent growth validates EDU’s investment in course development and reinforces the group’s role in addressing critical skill shortages in the healthcare and human services sectors.

Outlook and Upcoming Reporting

EDU plans to report its next set of enrolment figures for vocational subsidiary Australian Learning Group (ALG) during the week of 20 October, following Term 4 results.

The company said it remains confident in its outlook for the remainder of the academic year, with both Ikon and ALG contributing to a diversified, scalable education platform.

Mr Davis said the strong September intake sets a solid foundation for continued growth into 2026.

“Ikon’s performance demonstrates the strength of our higher education business model and our ability to deliver programs that meet Australia’s evolving skills needs,” he said.