Membership fees

English UK membership fees

English UK member centres pay membership subscription fees which reflect the size of their English language teaching centre operation.  

Alongside the membership fee, we collect Accreditation UK fees from our members, saving them up to £300 a year.

English language teaching centres membership fee has two components: a fixed basic subscription; and a supplementary subscription based on the size of the centre's teaching operation. This is measured in student weeks. 

From 2024, part-time student weeks will be included when we calculate fees. 'Part-time' students have less than 10 hours of ELT tuition in a week. They will be treated as 0.5 student weeks. 

See our student week definition and calculation examples


How we calculate your fees

Basic subscriptions 

The majority of individual member centres pay the same basic subscription, which in 2024 is £1,624. 

There are reduced rates for very small centres and group discounts for centres under the same ownership.  

Supplementary subscriptions: how much you will pay 

One full-time student week is calculated as one student taking ten or more hours of tuition in one week. 

One part-time student week is calculated as one student taking less than ten hours of tuition in one week.

Supplementary subscription charges for 2024: 

Band Student weeks Supplementary subscription (2024)
1 < 1,000  £0
2 1,001- 2,000 £519
3 2,001- 6,000 £898
4 6,001- 10,000 £1,152
5 10,001- 20,000 £2,505
6 20,001- 30,000 £3,916
7 30,001- 40,000 £4,184
8 40,001- 70,000 £6,912
9 70,001 - 100,000 £8,247
10 100,000 - 125,000 £9,331
11 125,000+ £11,520

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Group subscriptions in 2023 

Accredited centres under the same ownership will normally be treated as a group and pay:  

  • £1,624 for the first member of the group plus

  • £1,462 for the second and each subsequent centre joining the group i.e. £3,086 for a group of two centres, £4,548 for a group of three centres etc. plus

  • A supplementary subscription based on the aggregated total of the student weeks taught by all centres in the group.

  • View the English UK rules

Very small centres 

English UK offers reduced basic subscription rates to enable the smallest ELT centres to join the association. Centres with fewer than 500 student weeks per year are eligible for these reduced rates.   

In 2024, centres that regularly recorded between 251 and 500 student weeks pay a reduced basic subscription rate of £1,210. Those that recorded less than 250 student weeks pay £940. 

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Other fees that we collect

Copyright Licensing Agency fee

Private sector member centres can join the English UK Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) licence fee payment scheme, which gives members a saving of well over 50% per annum. 

View full details of the CLA payment scheme 

Accreditation UK annual fee

The Accreditation UK annual fee is calculated according to student week figures. Once member centres have submitted their annual student week data to English UK, English UK invoices for the accreditation fee on behalf of the British Council which administers the accreditation scheme on a day-to-day basis. This invoicing arrangement enables member centres to benefit from paying their accreditation fees in five instalments as opposed to one single payment. 

The British Council's financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. 

 


Accreditation UK annual fees (2024/25)

Standard

English UK member centres



Band A

0 < 250 student weeks 

£811

£711


Band B

250-500 student weeks

£866

£766


Band C

500-2,000 student weeks

£924

£824


Band D

2,000-5,000 student weeks

£987

£887





Band E 5,000-10,000 student weeks £1,053 £953
Band F 10,000-20,000 student weeks £1,124 £1,024
Band G 20,000+ student weeks £1,200 £1,100

 

Student Emergency Support contribution

English UK membership fees include a contribution towards the Student Emergency Support (SES) scheme.

All accredited centres not in English UK membership are required to pay an additional contribution to the Student Emergency Support scheme. This varies from £100 to £200 depending on the size (in student weeks) of the centre.

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How do we collect payment?

Private and state-sector language centre members are invoiced differently. 

Private centre subscriptions 

Private sector member centres are required to pay by direct debit in instalments.  

Private sector member centres will pay their basic subscriptions in seven instalments, from January to July; they will pay their supplementary subscriptions (if applicable), Accreditation UK fee and CLA fee (if applicable) in five instalments, from August to December. 

State sector subscriptions 

State sector member centres' subscription invoices (including the Accreditation UK annual fee) are issued in the first quarter of the year.  

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