ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the building blocks and mechanics of how student number planning responds to or frustrates those strategic designs. It looks particularly at the issues which a department of strategy and planning has to address when assisting both the senior leadership team and the constituent academic units in undertaking student number planning. Student number planning is a fundamental part of the role of the strategic planner. A good strategic planner has an acute awareness of the balance of students and the mix of mode, level and status in her or his institution. Targets are used to set income forecasts. The student number planning model is updated at the beginning of the new academic year as new students and returners register in September, with adjustments made for students set to arrive during the year. Australia introduced a demand-driven uncapped system of student recruitment to its universities.
