Edwise International vs IDP Education
An independent, side-by-side look at how each is funded, where they place students, and who each one really suits.
IDP is a listed global company that co-owns IELTS and places students across the major English-speaking countries. Edwise is one of India’s oldest consultancies — India-focused, but with a wide destination spread. For Indian students the choice is often local: Edwise’s decades of India experience versus IDP’s scale, transparency and IELTS integration. Both are free to students.
| Edwise International | IDP Education | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Mumbai, India | Melbourne, Australia |
| Founded | 1991 | 1969 |
| Ownership | Privately held | Publicly listed (ASX: IEL); ~25% held by 38 Australian universities |
| Fee to students | Free counselling — paid by universities | Free to students — paid by universities |
| Destination focus | UK, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, Ireland, Europe, UAE (16 countries) | Australia, Canada, UK, USA, New Zealand, Ireland |
| Best for | Indian students who want a long-established, India-focused agent with an unusually wide spread of destinations | Students comparing several English-speaking destinations who want a large, publicly listed, transparent agent |
Branch counts, ratings and review numbers are read live on each brand's hub page. Company-published figures are attributed as claims, not verified facts.
Edwise International
Edwise International is one of India’s longest-established overseas education consultancies, founded in Mumbai in 1991. It is India-focused, with the majority of its branches in Maharashtra and other Indian cities, and it places students across a wider spread of destinations than most — including continental Europe and the UAE, not just the big five English-speaking countries.
Edwise states its counselling service is free to students, funded by commission from the universities it represents. Ask which of the 950+ institutions it says it represents are relevant to your course, and whether any recommended university pays a higher commission than the alternatives.
- Operating since 1991 — one of the longest track records of any Indian study-abroad consultancy.
- The company states it represents 950+ universities across 16 countries, including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Ireland, France, Germany, UAE, Switzerland and Malaysia.
- Head office in Marine Lines, Mumbai, with branches across Mumbai and other Indian cities.
- Coverage is strongest for Indian students; less relevant if you are applying from elsewhere.
- Partner and university counts are the company’s own published figures.
IDP Education
IDP Education — often searched as the “IDP consultancy”, “IDP study abroad” or simply “IDP” — is one of the largest international student placement organisations in the world. Strictly it is an education agent rather than a fee-charging consultancy: an IDP counsellor gives free student counselling, course and university selection, application processing, IELTS testing and student-visa support, placing students mainly in Australia, Canada, the UK, the USA, New Zealand and Ireland. It is a publicly listed Australian company (ASX: IEL), which makes it unusually transparent for this industry — its financials, student volumes and commission income are all in public filings. Around 25% of IDP is held directly by 38 Australian universities, following a 2021 restructure of the stake previously held through Education Australia. Because service and IDP counsellor quality vary noticeably between IDP offices, the verified reviews below are broken down branch by branch.
IDP does not charge students a placement fee. It earns a commission from partner universities when a student enrolls. This is the standard model for large education agents, and it is worth understanding: the agent is paid by the institution, not by you. That does not make the advice bad, but it does mean an agent has more financial reason to recommend a partner university than a non-partner one. Ask which universities they represent and whether your shortlist is on it. IELTS test registration is charged separately and is not free.
- Co-owns the IELTS test with the British Council and Cambridge University Press & Assessment (roughly a third each), and operates IELTS test centres in many of its offices.
- Publicly listed, so its commission income and student placement volumes are disclosed in annual reports — rare in this sector.
- Placement focus is the major English-speaking destinations: Australia, Canada, the UK, the USA, New Zealand and Ireland.
- IDP both places students at universities and administers the IELTS test those students need. Some students find this convenient; it is worth knowing the same organisation sits on both sides.
- Service quality varies significantly between branches — this is a franchise-like network of offices, not a single team. Read reviews for the specific office you plan to visit, not the brand as a whole.
