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Summary of our market study
As of 2020, the language travel market experienced a significant decline due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the UK's market size dropping by approximately £590 million compared to the previous year. The number of international students attending language courses in the UK plummeted by 79%, with over 50% of the industry's staff being seasonal employees who were largely impacted, as more than 4,420 were released from their duties. Despite the challenges, industry participants, like British language centres, expressed optimism for a market recovery, with 42% anticipating a rebound in 2023. The pandemic also highlighted the growing importance of digital language learning platforms, with Babbel as a key player, as the demand for online alternatives surged. Furthermore, the study revealed a shift towards more professional and work-experience-inclusive language programs, as seen in Kaplan English International's new offers. The South of England, especially London, continued to attract the majority of English language learners, with a noticeable seasonality peak during the summer months.
Trend Analysis of Language Travel in the UK
The language travel market in the UK showcases a robust pattern of growth and diversity in terms of demand, offerings, and the market structure itself. A significant impetus propelling the market is the universal quest for English proficiency, with students from Asia, notably from China, contributing to a considerable portion of the demand. The UK and the US, as prime destinations for language studies, have dominated the market for years, with the UK market alone contributing to a financial injection of between €135 and €140 million through language travels. These figures underline the centrality of the English language, with the global reach of the language driving a staggering two-thirds of language learners to seek proficiency. An interesting trend is the focus on the youth demographic, evident from the surge in participation from students aged between 12 and 18 years.
This group forms a substantial part of the market, reflecting the value placed on early language acquisition. However, the market is not monolithic, and there is a noteworthy pattern of adult learners who seek professional language skills to enhance their career prospects and personal growth. Focusing on the geographical spread within the UK, there's a clear concentration of language learners favoring the South of England, with London alone attracting nearly 50% of all language travel visitors. Seasonality also plays a role, with the summer months witnessing a peak due to aligning with school holidays, indicating a high volume of student travelers during this period. The offerings in the market vary, with both short-term stays of between 4 and 14 nights and more intensive courses lasting up to a year available to students. With the average spending and stay duration of language travelers eclipsing that of average tourists, it's evident that language travel significantly contributes to the UK's economy.
This market is not merely about language learning but is an intersection of education, travel, and cultural exchange, driving an economic boom in the regions where these language schools are located. In terms of market segmentation, while the precise financial figures for specific companies are not disclosed in the text, the presence of major players like EF International with revenues reaching the billions indicates a highly competitive field with considerable market consolidation. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, posed serious challenges, leading to a stark reduction in the number of students and a substantial decline in market value in 2020. Nevertheless, the optimism for a market rebound is notable, with industry stakeholders anticipating a significant recovery by 2023. Despite these impressive numbers, it's noteworthy that not all statistics sail.
Prominent Market Leaders in the Language Travel Industry The global language travel market features a range of specialized agencies, organizations, and educational institutions that facilitate the immersion of individuals into foreign languages through travel. Several key players dominate this industry through their comprehensive services and programs designed to cater to a diverse clientele comprising children, teenagers, and adults.
- EF Education First stands as one of the most prominent companies in the language travel sector, possessing an extensive network of schools and providing an array of language learning opportunities worldwide. Their programs are designed for various age groups and proficiency levels, reinforcing their reputation as a trusted provider of educational travel experiences.
- Language International is another significant entity within the market, operating as a booking platform that connects language learners with a diverse selection of courses and schools globally. The company is committed to making language studies abroad accessible and convenient, offering tailored advice and support to their clients.
- GoAbroad is recognized for its comprehensive online directory of study abroad programs, including language courses. This organization offers more than just language travel; it serves as a resource for a variety of international programs, reflecting its goal of promoting cross-cultural understanding and global engagement.
- Local universities, such as Sussex, Ashford, and Oxford, play an integral role in shaping the language travel market by offering summer camps and courses to improve English proficiency. Their esteemed academic backgrounds and the quality of education impart a level of prestige on their language programs, appealing to students who seek a combination of academic excellence and cultural immersion.
- A unique segment of the market is catered to by companies like Homestay English and Lingoo, which connect language travelers with host families. These organizations endorse cultural immersion as a path to language fluency, allowing travelers to live and converse in the language they aim to master.
- Kaplan International English, another leading language education provider, has adapted to the evolving demands of the market by offering professional courses and work experience options. This approach reflects the industry's shift toward a more diversified and professionalized offering that considers the varied motivations and objectives of language learners. In conclusion, these major players in the language travel market contribute significantly to the industry through their specialized services, customer-centric programs, and innovative approaches to language learning through travel. Their presence exemplifies the vitality of the market and its importance in facilitating global communication and cultural exchange.
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Summary and extracts
1 Market summary
1.1 Presentation and definition of the language travel market
Language study stays occur for varying lengths in a foreign country. The goal is to learn or improve the language of the country in question. Linguistic stays are carried out by:
- Children (under 12),
- Teenagers (12-18 years)
- Adults
The global market for language travel has seen an impressive growth in recent years both in value and volume, due to the increasing attention towards the necessity of foreign languages in an increasingly globalized world. Demand is strongly driven by students from Asia studying English in Europe or the US.
Among the main players on the market are agencies specializing in language holidays, associations, and specialized organizations that own their own language schools. Key names include EF Education First, Language International, and GoAbroad. The UK market’s benefiting from the fact that English is taught all over the world; it still, together with the US, dominates the number of recipients.
In recent years, the offers and formulas proposed have evolved. The offer has been extended to a larger number of countries, even if knowledge of english remains the primary motivation for this type of stay.
While this study is mainly focused on the students that come to the UK to study English at the various language centres, it also includes a little bit about British students travelling abroad to learn foreign languages.
1.2 A healthy global market largely dominated by the UK and the US
Despite the lack of research and information on the language study abroad segment, which is part of the broader international education industry, there is some evidence that the global market for language study abroad is doing quite well. According to the IALC Study Travel Research Report (***), which, among other things, collects data on student travel, *.* million people travel around the world every year to learn a foreign language. The two thirds are looking to learn English, which logically explains why the United States, United Kingdom and Canada have been the leading destinations for language holidays for many years. [***]
In the graph below, it is clear that English is by far the most taught and learned language during language stays, and the reason for this is simple: language students learn English during their stay to improve their fluency in the most spoken and studied language in the world, be it for professional, personal or academic purposes.
Survey : "What language did you learn in a language travel?" World, ****, in % Source: ****
In ****, the English Language Travel (***) sector accounted for around *.*% of total tourist nights and around *.*% of total tourism expenditure. According to Deloitte's estimates, the indicative total spending by students on ELT in **** was ...
1.3 The UK language travel market has been in better shape since 2017
Established in ****, the British Educational Travel Association (***) is the institution that governs all educational travel activities in the UK. In ****, the inbound youth, student and educational travel sector was worth £** billion to the British economy [***].
Within the educational travel sector, the language travel industry accounted for £*.* billion, or *% of the total of the sector. This is a value that is up **% from ****, but seems to have stabilised since ****, before suffering a steep decrease due to the Covid-** pandemic, which brought the value of the market in **** down to £*** million [***].
Size of the British language travel market UK, ****-****, in millions of euros Source: ****
In terms of people hired in this sector, the number has also grown. While in ****, there were more than **,*** direct and indirect jobs supported by this sector, by **** the number grew by nearly **,***, to **,***.
Number of jobs supported by the language travel sector (***) UK, ****-****, in thousands Source: ****
The number of international students studying at official British institutions has been somewhat stable since ****, with the number fluctuating at around ***,*** students. However, looking closely into the numbers, we can notice how the number of students decreased between **** and ****, then increased up until ****, before falling sharply in **** due to the ...
1.4 The importance of learning English
The fluency in English in particular is considered a crucial professional asset, since it is the language of choice in many fields (***) and an increasing number of jobs require proficiency in this language. The companies are internationalizing, and speaking English allows you to take advantage of more professional opportunities. In addition, a command of this language would make it possible to obtain a higher salary, as in Switzerland where people who speak English are paid on average **% more than others [***]. The Employment framework which uses the figures from the "Why English Matters" study conducted by IPSOS for ETS in ****, shows that **% of French companies surveyed said that their needs for employees who speak English had increased over the past three years. Also, **% of companies expected their needs to increase over the next three years. In addition, English is the official language of ** countries and the mother tongue of approximately *** million people [***]. This importance of English explains why stays in Great Britain account for almost half of all language stays for French people Distribution of destinations for French language travellers France, ****, in % Source: Mon Sejour Linguistique
1.5 The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic
The covid-** pandemic and the resulting lockdowns and restrictions imposed by the British government brought terrible consequences for language travel industry. Starting with the market size, this decreased by approximately £*** million compared to the previous year (***).
In terms of number of students, this also fell between **** and ****. A study by Bonard, which included *** member centres (***), showed the fall in demand for language trips to the UK. Just between **** and ****, the number of international students attending courses at member language centres fell by **%, a big drop.
Impact of Covid-** pandemic on the number of students enrolled in British language courses UK, ****-*****, in thousands Source: ****
Impact on jobs
Jobs within the industry were also adversely impacted by the pandemic. In fact, as it can be seen from the graph below, the number of staff that were released from their jobs is much greater than the number of staff that suffered no change in their job.
Impact of the Covid-** pandemic on the job status of staff UK, ****, in number of staff Source: ****
Within the British ELT sector, just over **% of the staff are seasonal employees and these were the most impacted by the pandemic. Of the *,*** employees released from their duties (***), nearly ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Europeans learn many languages, with English being the main language
English is by far the most popular foreign language in Europe, with **% of students in secondary education learning it. Spanish, French and German are the next most popular languages among European students. The evolution has also been promising, with the percentage of secondary school students learning English increasing by * percentage points between **** and ****. [***].
Most commonly studied language in Europe Europe, ****, in % of secondary education students Source: ****
2.2 English, a useful language for the majority of Europeans
As seen in the part *.* of this study, English is a very popular language among European countries. This is supported by the fact that * out of the top ** nationalities of the visitors to the UK are European, with only Japan and China as the outliers.
Main nationalities for the English language course visitors UK, ****, in thousands of visitors Source: ****
In terms of the nationalities that spend the most money in the UK, here we see a bigger representation by non-European countries. In fact, the * biggest spending nationalities in the UK are all from outside of Europe. Spain, Italy and France are the only European representatives in the top *.
Biggest spending nationalities of English language course visitors UK, ****, in millions of GBP Source: ****
Of the visitors that come to the UK to undertake an English language course, the purpose of the journey to the UK for the vast majority is either to study or for holiday.
Proportion of visitors who took an English language course by journey purpose UK, ****, in % Source: ****
What is interesting to note however, is that **% of the visitors that came to the UK for study purposes ended up taking an English language course. For the other journey purposes, ...
2.3 Chinese students are highly represented in Great Britain
In regards to the profile of those who travel to the UK for English language courses, we see that there is a slight difference in the gender distribution of those undertaking these courses. **% of visitors are female while **% are male [***].
Gender distribution of visitors who take an English language course UK, ****, in % Source: ****
Moreover, it is also interesting to note how visitors for English language courses in the UK are predominantly young, with more than two thirds of visitors being under the age of **. The biggest age group is that of ** to ** years old [***].
Age distribution of visitors who take an English language course UK, ****, in % Source: ****
Compared to the average British traveller, visitors that go to the UK to take part in an English language course are quite different. First of all, their stay tends to be much longer, with language travellers staying for ** nights, while British travellers on average stay * nights. Given the longer stay, it is therefore no surprise that language travellers spend more money per visit than British travellers. However, the spending per night is lower for language travellers [***].
Average length of stay of English language course visitor compared to the average UK traveller UK, ****, in nights Source: ...
2.4 Strong demand during holiday periods
There is a clear seasonality in the number of visitors travelling to the UK to undertake English language courses. While overall visits to the UK tend to be somewhat evenly spread out along the year, visits for English language courses mostly happen in the Summer period and are quite low at the end of the year [***].
Seasonality of visits to the UK UK, ****, in % of total visits Source: ****
2.5 The falling popularity of foreign languages in the UK
Given how this study also focuses on the behaviour of the British towards learning foreign languages, it is interesting to note how the British have been giving less and less importance to foreign languages.
First of all, only **% of the British population speaks at least one foreign language, and only *% speak at least * languages. This is incredibly low compared to other European countries and the European average. In the EU, **% of the population speaks at least * foreign language, **% speak at least * and **% speak * or more [***].
Number of languages spoken by the British UK, ****, in % Source: ****
The popularity of languages in the UK is dropping sharply. In fact, since ****, the total number of GCSE and A-Level language exams sat fell by **% and **% respectively.
Number of GCSE and A-Level language exams sat UK, ****-****, in thousands of students Source: ****
The languages that have suffered the largest decline in this period of time are French and German, * of the most popular foreign languages in the UK. Looking once again at the number of GCSE and A-Level exams sat, the number of French exams fell by **% and **% respectively, and the number of German exams fell by **% and **% respectively. This decline is in relation to the ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Who are the organisers of language stays?
There are three main types of players participating on the market language stays in Great Britain.
The local universities which offer the possibility of summer camps to improve your English: Sussex, Ashford, Oxford, etc. The host families and sites for connecting with families to be able to enjoy full cultural immersion for a predefined period of time. The language travel agencies such as EF Education, which offers English courses (***) for predefined periods of time in specialised centres where students can live together.
It is interesting to note how in British language centres most of the employees are seasonal and only less than a third are full-time employees. This goes to show how seasonal the demand for language courses in the UK is.
Distribution of staff in British language centres by employment type UK, ****, in % Source: ****
3.2 Online learning platforms are gaining traction
According to the Ambient Insight, the digital language learning should experience an exponential growth worldwide until ****, supported by the learning of English. Indeed, between **** and ****, forecasts predict a doubling of the size of the digital language learning market in the English language segment, from €*.* billion in **** to €*.* billion in ****.
A player that is becoming important in this segment is Babbel, which is an online application for language learning, founded in ****, which joined the language travel market in **** [***]. It was the first application of its kind, which now has more than one million active subscribers. Fast Company magazine also ranked Babbel as the world's leading innovative education company.
Babbel announced the launch of a language travel booking platform in ****, after acquiring the Berlin-based start-up LingoVentura, which manages the bookings of *** language schools in over *** cities and countries.
Babbel explained that the platform will connect language learners with an "organised selection" of language schools in various countries, creating an international booking platform.
The ultimate objective is to open up the language sector to the "untapped" segments of the market, in particular the "millions" of Babbel subscribers potentially interested in language travel.
3.3 Geographical distribution
The South of England - and predominantly London - is where the largest concentration of English language course visitors is. In fact, the * southern-most regions (***), concentrate **% of total visitors who undertake an English language course. This can be seen in the table and map below.
Source: ****
Geographical distribution of visitors undertaking English language courses
UK, ****, in thousands of Visitors
4 Analysis of the offer
4.1 A wide range of products on the language travel market
Stays generally take place during school holidays and often last from * to ** nights. However, the duration can be longer depending on the type of stay and can even be one year.
Duration of stay of visitors undertaking English Language courses UK, ****, in % Source: ****
In general, there are between ** and ** hours of classes per week or even * to * hours overtime for an intensive formula.
The content and intensity of a language stay varies according to the student's objectives. The formula can thus propose the preparation and passing of an exam, leisure activities to promote oral fluency, etc.
The packages offered by the language travel agencies may be as follows:
A multi-activity stay (***) A college or university residence accommodation with group classes. A family accommodation with group lessons in the morning and group activities in the afternoon. A total immersion in a family, without classes, but by sharing the daily life of a family. An accommodation with the teacher sometimes with one or two students of different nationalities. The student lives and takes classes with the same person (***). A language course with internship or small work experience in a company for an additional international professional experience.
Depending on the organisation and the formula ...
4.2 Prices vary according to the type of stay chosen
The price of language stays depends on several factors:
The type of organization chosen, The duration of the stay, The choice of location (***), The course and cultural immersion formula chosen
Some of them formulas include accommodation, courses, activities and travel, while some include only courses or cultural immersion, for example.
For example, on the CLC page, we find the following price ranges:
Language training in Ashford, in England * days with ** hours of summer camp lessons, for **-** year olds, including family and train: from *** euros. Private tutoring at the teacher's home and cultural activities à London one week with ** lessons, from ** years old, with travel not included: from **** euros
4.3 Towards a more professionalized offer of language stays
According to the Let's study abroad, the demand is no longer limited simply to young teenagers wishing to improve their English and the offer is adapting by offering more professional courses.
For example, Kaplan English International, one of the leading companies in the sector, has launched two new offers for this audience, young and old:
The "English modules pro" course in London or Liverpool, which offers students the opportunity to improve their marketing and sales methods in addition to the traditional English language courses The "English work experience" option in London or Dublin which allows students to perfect their skills by doing a student job or internship in more than ten fields such as hotel, catering or sales.
Thanks to this type of program, written proof on the CV is made possible in addition to a definite improvement in the language of the destination country.
5 Rules and regulations
5.1 Regulations
The regulations that govern the activity of language travel in the UK is mentioned in the following document.
6 Positioning of the actors
6.1 Segmentation
- Nacel
- EF International
- Kaplan International English
- Boa Lingua
- Linguland
- CEI CENTRE D ECHANGES INTERNATIONAUX
- WEP
- Homestay English
- Lingoo
- Ashford University
- Oxford Summer Courses
- UKLC
- English Country Schools
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