More than 330 agents have already booked to attend this year's StudyWorld London, making the 2012 event the fastest-selling ever.

A quarter of the 260 agencies are first-time attendees, and three new countries are represented: Bahrain, Ethiopia and the Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Bookings are almost ten per cent higher than they were in the same month in 2007 when StudyWorld moved to London from Brighton.

Event organiser Siobhán Baccas, International Manager for English UK, said there were several reasons for the rise in applications to the international student recruitment fair.

"English UK has run a lot more small fairs round the world recently, and that, together with our Partner Agency Scheme, means that our staff are out and about,  meeting a lot more people, who then seriously consider coming to StudyWorld," she said.

"Also, it's possible that the tightening up of the visa restrictions means agents are particularly keen to come to our event. It's become more important than ever for agents and educators to be able to trust each other, so the fact that we're the only major fair to insist that all educators are accredited and all study-abroad agents are approved has become very significant. This does reassure people about the contacts they make at StudyWorld."

Last year's StudyWorld London was a record-breaking event, with almost 900 delegates from all over the world and the biggest-ever number of exhibitors. This year's event is being held at the London Hilton Metropole Hotel from September 3-5, and includes not only the spectacular Welcome Reception but also a new networking Pop and Bowl event where agents and educators can mingle for an evening of bowling and karaoke. The Marcom eSchedule PRO appointments system goes live on Tuesday June 12.