During our annual general meeting, members approved a change to English UK's rules that will allow centres with government-approved accreditations to become members. The move reflects a wider ambition to engage more fully with the full breadth of the UK ELT landscape and bring it together.
Speaking on behalf of the English UK Board of Trustees, James Herbertson said the change would "strengthen relevance, influence and impact. Welcoming other ELT institutions into English UK will benefit every one of us" and would enable English UK to become a national association in practice and name.
He suggested standards could be raised by inviting this group of centres to join English UK, and with a broader base of members the association could be more influential. "Our strategy allows us to evolve with confidence and brings the sector together. You are choosing to lead, to grow, and that English UK remains at the centre of the sector it represents." New members would be invited from a clear list of accreditations approved by the UK Government for visas and be clearly differentiated, with no voting rights.
Inclusivity embedded in English UK rule book
During the AGM, members also agreed an update to the rule book to reflect the association's rejection of native speakerism. Farhan Quraishi, proposing the addition on behalf of trustees, said that being a native speaker didn't make a better teacher. "It's training, skill, understanding of learners – not where you were born… as a national association you have to lead by example and to take out anything that questions that excellence."
Student emergency support reform
In other votes, members agreed that the board and executive should strengthen the membership's financial sustainability including making improvements to the Student Emergency Support scheme and better protecting students' money.
The honorary member who rejected spying and Abba
Additionally, Mike Wills, Ombudsman and former chair of English UK's predecessor organisation and Liz McLaren were both made honorary members of English UK. Accepting, Mike revealed that when teaching English in Sweden he had been approached to spy for Russia and turned down an approach from a band to help translate lyrics: the band turned out to be Abba.
Looking ahead: focus on growth and financial sustainability
The conference also marked the launch of English UK's new five-year strategy, focused on sustainable growth, sector resilience and wider engagement.
Chief executive Jodie Gray said "I want to build a sector that is bigger and stronger, more resilient and financially sustainable. "We are stronger when we act together - we saw that in the pandemic - and we will be when we deliver this strategy. We are focusing on four clear priorities which are deliberately simple and will make a tangible difference to you and the sector as a whole." Our new strategy to 2030 focuses on leveraging growth opportunities, creating financial sustainability, broadening our membership base and strengthening UK ELT for all.
Ivana Bartosik from Bonard, presenting the student statistics, said there would be an emphasis on the European market in 2026: in Asia there was a lot more waiting to see what happened. The junior market looked more stable than the adult.
Member best practice
In other sessions, members told us how they built staff communities, encouraged cultural exchanges for learning, created professional cultures and use AccessTEFL to get the best teachers for their youngest learners.
Members told us how much they enjoyed the day. James Herbertson of Bayswater said: "We had a lot of things to discuss as an industry, things that are important to us, our agents and students and collectively agreed a future direction for our sector."
Reflecting on the conference Caroline Fox said: "This year I thought there was a lot of energy around bringing new members in and improving our influence with government, having a bigger voice and being taken more seriously."
Angharad Sanders from Hilderstone College, attending for the first time, said the event had been really useful. "I've talked to other people and it's good to hear what they think and hear their point of view."
