Introduction
The Global Student Flows (GSF) dataset in HolonIQ by QS provides a comprehensive view of how students move across countries, regions, cities, and institutions for higher education.
If you’re new to GSF, the Overview report is the best place to start. It is designed to help you quickly understand the big picture before diving into more detailed analysis.
This article explains what you can see in the Overview report and briefly introduces the other report tabs you can explore as your analysis becomes more advanced.
Overview Report: What You’ll See
The Overview report is intended to answer one simple question: what is happening globally with student mobility right now?
In the Overview report, you can typically expect to see:
A high-level snapshot of global inbound and outbound student flows
The largest source and destination markets worldwide
Recent trends in international student mobility over time
Key patterns that highlight growth, decline, or stability in global flows
This report is not meant for deep filtering or granular analysis. Instead, it helps you orient yourself, spot broad trends, and understand where the biggest movements are occurring globally.
Use the Overview report when you want to:
Get familiar with the GSF dataset
Prepare for a high-level conversation or presentation
Identify areas worth exploring in more detail
Exploring Beyond the Overview
Once you’re comfortable with the big picture, the other report tabs allow you to explore Global Student Flows in much greater depth.
At a high level:
Scatter Plot reports help you compare destinations or locations by size and growth, making it easier to identify major hubs, emerging markets, or declining destinations.
Flows Explorer visualises how students move from sources to destinations, allowing you to analyse flows by region, country, or sub-region and over different time periods.
Index and City-level reports enable more detailed analysis of specific source or destination markets, including trends over time and relative performance.
Heatmaps and comparison views allow you to compare patterns across regions and time periods side by side.
Each of these reports builds on the same underlying dataset but is designed to answer different analytical questions.
When to Move Beyond the Overview
If you find yourself asking questions such as:
Where are students from a specific country or region going?
Which destinations are growing fastest?
How are student flows changing over time?
…then it’s time to move from the Overview report into one of the more specialised report tabs.
Next Steps
Start with the Overview report to build context and confidence in the Global Student Flows dataset.
Once you’ve identified markets, regions, or trends of interest, use the other reports to explore those insights in more detail.
For step-by-step guidance on each report type, refer to the related Help Center articles for Scatter Plots, Flows Explorer, and Index reports.