English UK report that the latest figures from QUIC, their quarterly statistics initiative, show that student weeks in Q1 2025 reached 71% of the volume recorded in Q1 2019. Although this represents a slight decline from Q1 2024, the trend remains consistent with the pace of recovery seen in Q4 2024.
Through QUIC, English UK continue to track seasonal patterns and market developments across the UK ELT sector, offering quarterly, data-driven insights to support strategic planning.
They are pleased to note record participation in 2025, with 126 member centres taking part—representing 41% of English UK’s total membership. These centres accounted for 59% of all student weeks delivered in 2024, highlighting QUIC’s increasing importance and value to the sector.
As in previous years, Q1 was dominated by adult learners, who represented 87% of all student weeks, with juniors accounting for 13%.
When comparing like-for-like performance against Q1 2024, juniors demonstrated greater resilience. Adult student weeks fell by 13%, while juniors declined by just 5%. Encouragingly, junior programmes recovered to 85% of Q1 2019 levels, outperforming adults, who reached 69%.
The top five source markets in Q1 2025 were Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Italy, Brazil, and Japan, with the top ten markets accounting for 69% of all student weeks. This concentration reflects the sector’s continued dependence on a relatively small number of key sending countries during the first quarter of the year.
Saudi Arabia remained the leading source market, contributing 18% of total student weeks, despite a year-on-year decline of 3,792 weeks. Türkiye, on the other hand, recorded the most substantial growth, increasing by 2,578 student weeks and rising to second place overall.
Italy continued its recovery for a second consecutive quarter, showing improvement in both the adult and junior segments, though its overall volume remains below pre-pandemic levels.
They also observed a sharp decline in student weeks from Colombia, following the UK government's removal of visa-free entry for Colombian nationals in November 2024. The data shows that adult student weeks from Colombia dropped by nearly a third (-1,104) when compared to Q1 2024.
119 teaching premises were open, a 5% increase vs Q1 2024
A total of 116.4k student weeks were delivered: 87% adult and 13% junior
The top 10 markets accounted for 69% of all student weeks, up 3% from Q1 2024
Top 5 adult markets: Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Brazil, Kuwait, and Japan
Top 5 junior markets: Italy, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru
Adult student weeks fell by 13%; junior student weeks declined by 5% YoY
Junior programmes recovered to 85% of Q1 2019 levels; adults to 69%
76% of bookings were made via agencies, slightly higher than in previous Q1s
Individual bookings have seen a slight decline in recent years
*n = 126 English UK member centres with 233 advertised teaching premises
> Download the Q1 2025 executive summary
The full data sets and detailed report are only available to QUIC participants.
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