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Student survey · Rotterdam · autumn 2026
They name
their teacher

We asked 45 students why they chose us. Almost everything they said points at the people who teach, and almost nothing at the institute.

Answers
45

Everyone who enrolled at the Rotterdam centre, levels A1 to B2. They rate us 4.6 out of 5.

The finding that matters most
In the open answers, not one student named the institute. They named their teacher. Four teachers came up without anyone asking about them.

This is why the whole plan puts teachers in front. It is not a campaign idea. It is what our own students already do.

What they choose on
Good teaching, nothing else close
Teaching quality
36
Approachability
21
University backing
18
International network
6

Number of students who put each one first, out of 45.

Three things we had wrong
What surprised us
44/45
The Confucius name is not the problem. Almost everyone knew they were joining a Confucius Institute before they signed up, and 18 chose us partly because of it.
26
Google brings them in, not AI. 26 found us through a search engine. One single student came through an AI assistant.
3
Nobody can say what we are. Students describe the same course in three roughly equal ways, so there is no shared story for a name to carry.
Why they come
Culture and travel, not career
Interest in the culture
26
Travel to China
20
Personal challenge
18

We have been talking like a business school. Our students are looking for a way into a country.

How they found us
Search still does the work
Google
26
Someone they know
8
Social media
5
Flyer or event
5
An AI assistant
1
So what do we do with this
Put teachers in front

Their own faces and their own channels, not the institute account.

Keep the Confucius name visible

It is an asset in the eyes of the people who already chose us.

Spend on search first

That is where almost everyone comes in. AI visibility is maintenance, not the engine.

45 answers from the Rotterdam centre, autumn 2026, and only from people who actually enrolled. It says nothing about the people we never reached. Treat it as a strong signal, not as proof.