ELT industry facts and figures
We collect data about the students who come to study English in the UK to provide robust intelligence for our members and support our campaigning.
We also conduct member surveys and commission research to assess the impact of policy changes and external events on the UK English language training (ELT) sector.
Who comes to study English in the UK?
Our student statistics reports, authored by our insight partner BONARD, give detailed information on who comes to study English in the UK.
The 2025 student statistics report contains the latest annual data. Our 2025 report analyses students studying English in the UK in 2024.
This report shows that in 2024:
- 349,679 English language students studied English at our member centres. Of these, 335,750 were on full-time courses (333,440 face-to-face and 2,310 online) and 13,929 studied part-time (10,788 face-to-face and 3,141 online)
- people travelled from over 100 countries to learn or improve their English in the UK
- our 309 member centres taught over one million student weeks (1,150,255 full-time, face-to-face student weeks)
- 62% of students were young learners, and their average stay increased to 1.9 weeks
- adults dominated in student week volume (at 67%), as they stayed for an average of 6 weeks
- the top 20 source markets accounted for 85% of all student numbers and delivered 86% of student weeks, and China, Colombia, and Turkey were the top growing markets.
- there were stark trading differences between individual member centres; 44% recorded year-on-year growth in their student weeks, while 54% experienced a decline.
Top 20 source markets for UK ELT in 2024 (by student week volume)
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1. Italy
2. Saudi Arabia
3. China
4. Turkey
5. Spain
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6. Brazil
7. France
8. Japan
9. Switzerland
10. South Korea |
11. Germany
12. Colombia
13. Kuwait
14. Mexico
15. Japan |
16. Argentina
17. Taiwan
18. Thailand
19. Chile
20. Poland |
The UK's English-language learning sector's post-pandemic recovery appears to have stabilised. In 2024, the sector recovered 72% of its 2019 full-time student week volume and 76% of its student numbers, echoing 2023.
Read the reports:
> Our 2025 Students Statistics Report (executive summary)
> Our 2024 Students Statistics Report (full edition) 
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> Visit our market intelligence page to download more reports on UK ELT's source markets
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How many students studied English in the UK before the pandemic and the end of freedom of movement?
Our 2020 student statistics report showed that in 2019, over 535,000 international students came to study English in the UK, making it the world's most popular ELT destination. The figure includes 508,600 full-time students and 24,400 part-time students. Over half of the full-time students (54%) were aged under 18 years old.
Top 20 source markets for UK ELT in 2019 (by student week volume)
1. Italy
2. China
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Spain
5. France |
6. Japan
7. Turkey
8. Switzerland
9. South Korea
10. Brazil |
11. Germany
12. Russia
13. Thailand
14. Kuwait
15. Colombia |
16. Oman
17. Poland
18. Taiwan
19. Romania
20. Argentina |
Read the report:
> Our 2020 Student Statistics Report (executive summary)
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What is the value of ELT to the UK economy?
2025 economic impact report
A decade after our first serious attempt to quantify the value of the UK English language teaching (ELT) industry, we commissioned independent research agency Pragmatix Advisory to reassess its impact. The sector has changed significantly, and the report, launched in April 2025, shows its value and the challenges it faces.
Some key findings of this Examining the economics of the English language teaching industry report are that in 2024, the UK ELT sector:
- Generated £1.8 billion of gross value added (GVA) to the UK's economy, including directly adding over £670m
- Contributed £300 million to the exchequer
- Supported 40,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Over 18,000 were directly employed (up 3% on 2014 figures); the rest worked for the ELT centres' supply chains and in local shops, cafes, attractions, and transport.
- Hosted ELT students for over 12 million bed nights.
And that:
- In the past 10 years, real value added per student has grown by 15%, partly due to a "significant" rise in their average spending.
- Every part of the UK benefited, as ELT students attended universities, colleges, private language centres and boarding schools in every region and all four nations of the UK.
- Teaching English was a significant part of the economy in some local authority areas, such as Bournemouth, Camden and Brighton.
- The sector's contribution to the UK's soft power and wider global influence is substantial.
Read the report:
VisitBritain's research
In September 2020, VisitBritain published a report on inbound visitors who take an English language course. Their research found that in 2018:
- 614,000 visitors – 1.5% of the total number of visitors - took an English language course during their stay
- English language students accounted for 3.5% of visitor spend
- Over 2 in 5 visitors coming to the UK to study take an English language course
- English language students stayed three times longer than average visitors, spending over twice as much as other travellers
- The report concluded, 'This group is a key target for UK tourism due to the value of their visits, the opportunity to encourage repeat visits to the UK for young travellers and the English language training industry's contribution to the UK economy.'
Read the report:
> VisitBritain's report: Inbound visitors who take an English language course (2020)
If you are an English UK member, visit our member campaigning resources page for more useful facts and to download our campaigning toolkit.
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