Member institutions of English schools are feeling optimistic as newly released student bookings data shows 2023 is the best year for overall member business since the pandemic.
Student numbers increased to 76% of 2019 levels, Student Week increased to 71% for British English members, and Individual members performed best in terms of membership type.
The ELT campaign manifesto, launched at Parliament House, contains six recommendations for the incoming government and was formally presented with MPs and key stakeholders.
Here are six recommendations:
- Expanding career-enhancing travel opportunities for young people by expanding the Youth Mobility Scheme
- Legalize short-term employment on all ELT courses
- ID card travel extension for under-18s group in EU
- We recognize the UK ELT’s certification scheme for immigration purposes.
- Increased government marketing support for UK ELTs
- Increase room rental relief to help address capacity issues.
Jodie Gray, CEO of English UK, said: “We believe our six recommendations can be adopted by any political party without significant cost or compromise and we will use them in the general election campaign and beyond.”
“We also hope that our members will use the manifesto as a forum for discussion with local election candidates.”
The sector has made significant progress in recent years, with campaigns such as the government resuming UK entry ID card travel for French school groups and expanding youth mobility schemes.
“We are delighted with the success of our recent campaign, but there is still much more work to be done,” Gray said.
One MP who attended to show support for the sector was Lord Offord of Garvel, Minister for Exports.
“We are offering classes in English not only for teaching young people, but also for the specific purpose of tailored courses for sector-specific, career-specific and overseas teachers and students,” Offord told stakeholders at the manifesto launch event.
He pointed to data from VisitBritain showing that pre-pandemic English students spent twice as much in the UK as regular visitors.
“We want our crown back,” they say. @englishukWritten by Mark Rendell #weeklyIt's positioning.
2023 was a positive year for this sector. But I heard there is more work to be done in the next administration. pic.twitter.com/u07raueJH9
— The PIENews (@ThePIENews) May 16, 2024
“We want the sector to recover so that the more than 1.5 million students who study English abroad each year can now study English in the UK.”
“I am delighted to see better news in student statistics this year. The story of 2023 is one of a promising but steady recovery,” Gray said.
“Global ELT is a mature industry with stagnant or declining student numbers. It's a zero sum game. Destinations compete for a stable or shrinking pool of students. One destination’s gain is another destination’s loss.”
One destination's gain is another destination's loss.
Italy returned as the top secondment market for members of the private sector, with 60% of all students being young learners in 2023, compared to 49% in 2022.
All of the growth has come from the private sector, and universities have experienced declines in both student numbers and size, the association said.
English UK's state sector membership is just 27% of its pre-pandemic student week in 2023, compared to 79% for private sector member centres. Some of this decline is due to structural changes in the state sector.
“We work hard to support our government sector members to maximize their growth potential,” the association said.
Gray highlighted areas of potential growth in the UK, such as the Brazilian market, which is the world's leading source market but has only a 7% market share in the UK.
The UK has a 2% market share in Colombia, 11% in China and 6% in Thailand, each offering potential growth for the UK.
“As the recent crackdown on competitive markets has proven, government can make a big difference to our success,” Gray continued.
“The UK’s approach is currently more welcoming than some competing destinations. Canada and Australia are currently grappling with high visa rejection rates and limited numbers of international students.
Gray hopes the statistics will help UK UK members make individual marketing decisions. The broader goal is also to demonstrate how and why targeted government support is needed.
In total, English UK's 320 member centers taught 360,517 English students in 2023.
Of these, 343,324 students completed the course full-time and 17,193 students completed it part-time.