English language teaching - what's it worth?
Around half a million people of all ages come to the UK every year to improve their English, generating £1.4bn in export earnings in 2017.
Research done for our submission to an official enquiry in January 2018 suggests that 550,000 international students came to the UK to study English at some level in 2016/17, staying an average of 3.7 weeks. Over half came from the EU.
Each student's net fiscal contribution to the UK economy in that time is £216. Overall, they supported around 30,600 jobs in ELT centres, the wider supply chain and tourism and transport. Ordinary families benefit culturally and financially from welcoming students into their homes, often sparking lifelong friendships circling the world.
There are wider benefits: 80% of students told us they planned to return to the UK after their courses ended, for travel or further study. And some benefits are hard to quantify: most students will go home with warm feelings about the UK which they share with friends and family, perhaps encouraging trading and other contacts with us as they advance in their careers.
We commission regular and one-off research into the value of ELT to the UK, looking at student source markets, trends and much more.
English UK's submission to the MAC International Students' Enquiry
Includes specially-commissioned research showing the global and regional value of students to the UK's finances and jobs.
Further reports are on the Resources and Reports page.
English UK's annual student statistics report
We produce this to support our members and the wider UK ELT sector with robust and sophisticated market intelligence: it includes trends in UK ELT, student numbers and world markets. This report is based on market information from English UK members and is compiled and analysed by our insight partner Bonard.
For more information, please contact Jodie Gray, head of market development: jodie.gray@englishuk.com
English UK's Quarterly Intelligence Cohort (QUIC)
QUIC is a quarterly statistics initiative to give English UK member centres regular, in-depth reports by professional analysts. QUIC helps members identify market trends and opportunities, and ensures time-critical business decisions are based on robust data to help UK ELT thrive.
The full reports are restricted to scheme members, but executive summaries are available for all:
