Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
18th Dec 2024

UK ELT reports “new normal” with softer student numbers for key third quarter

Short on time? Here are the highlights:
  • Student weeks in UK’s ELT sector are off by about a quarter since 2019, and the sector’s peak body believes this level of business is likely “the new normal”
  • Total weeks were 256,775 in Q3 2004 versus 338,585 in Q3 2019

The UK’s English-language teaching sector (ELT) may have reached peak business volume in 2019, five years ago. This past summer, student weeks reached 75% of what they were in 2019, down from 81% in the first half of the year, according to the QUIC Q3 2024 report informed by data from 126 English UK member centres.

English UK’s chief executive, Jodie Gray, believes this level of business may reflect new seasonal norms following the pandemic: “We are considering 2023/2024 as the new normal with figures unlikely to return to pre-pandemic highs or trends.” Ms Gray expects end-of-year 2024 numbers to be about the same as 2023.

Both Junior and Adult sub-sectors were down in summer 2024 versus summer 2023, by 10% and 9%, respectively. The Junior segment now makes up almost half of student weeks, which is the highest ratio – relative to Adult weeks – in the global ELT industry.

A look at student weeks for QUIC ELT reporting centres for the third quarter of 2019, 2023, and 2024. Source: English UK

A smaller overall share of students means more competition

The context for English-language teaching has changed greatly since before the pandemic – and not only for the UK. International students have more access to English-language tutoring and online courses in their own countries, and it has become more difficult for many to travel abroad for education due to costs and visa restrictions in major destinations.

From a policy perspective, the UK is relatively more welcoming to international students in 2024 than competitor destinations Australia and Canada. Ms Gray plans to release a new economic impact assessment for an objective measure of how much the ELT sector contributes to the UK economy:

“We will launch this and our new position paper in Parliament at our 2025 Parliamentary Reception with government officials, media representatives and industry stakeholders. The government can make a huge difference to our success, as recent clampdowns in competitor markets have demonstrated.”

Ms Gray says a change in immigration settings could make a huge difference to the health of the sector, such as “a youth mobility scheme for the whole of the EU and other nations globally … [that] would be a game-changer.”

Top sending markets

Nearly a quarter of all student weeks are accounted for by the top 10 markets for UK ELT providers, and the top five sending countries are Saudi Arabia, China, Türkiye, and Brazil. Türkiye was up the most of all top sending countries over summer 2023, with 3,280 more weeks, while Italy contributed 7,610 fewer weeks.

Top 10 markets for UK ELT providers, Q3 2024. Source: English UK

For additional background, please see:

Most Recent

  • US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 Read More
  • How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training Read More
  • Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

US institutions bracing for a challenging enrolment outlook for 2025/26 The Institute of International Education’s (IIE) twice-yearly snapshot surveys are always required reading for international educators. That is...
Read more
How the UK’s Agent Quality Framework will shape the future of agent training This article was originally published in the ICEF Academy Knowledge Hub and is reproduced here with permission. International...
Read more
Dutch government walks back controversial measures to constrain English-taught degrees In a 3 July 2025 letter to the Dutch parliament, Education Minister Eppo Bruins explained that the government...
Read more
New Zealand announces strong foreign enrolment growth along with a new international education strategy Following a post-pandemic surge in 2023, Education New Zealand (ENZ) announced this week that the country’s international student...
Read more
US issues corrected student visa data showing growth for 2024 while current trends point to an enrolment decline for 2025/26 In April 2025, we reported that foreign enrolments in the US had declined by -11% between March 2024...
Read more
Survey finds US institutions expanding agency engagement and focusing on new student markets AIRC (The Association of International Enrollment Management) and BONARD have just released a second edition of the State...
Read more
Canada’s language sector buffeted by policy changes in 2024 Amid reports of mounting job losses and programme cuts across Canadian education, the country’s language education providers are...
Read more
Language travel sector leaders call for a focus on value amid persistent discount pressure A June 2025 forum convened by ALTO (Association of Language Travel Organisations) confirmed that price discounting in language...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links