A roadmap for how UK ELT can rebuild lost trade after Covid-19 has been publicly launched by industry body English UK.

Rebuilding the international market for UK English language teaching: a roadmap to recovery after Covid-19 was shared with stakeholders and English UK members shortly before the nation went into lockdown.

The international market recovery roadmap proposes a wide campaign of positive messaging about the UK offer. It is aimed at five key groups and will be shared through a mix of events and communications channels led by English UK and supported by the wider industry, the British Council and the UK Government. The aim of its first phase is to return the UK ELT industry to 2019 student volumes by the end of summer 2022, with a second growth phase to follow.

English UK’s chief executive Jodie Gray said: “Our industry’s challenges have increased exponentially in the short space of time since we shared the roadmap with our members. That will probably mean we see results more slowly, but recent developments mean this plan is even more necessary than before to lead our members and the wider industry to rebuild and recover.

“I’m really encouraged by the great feedback we’ve had from our stakeholders and colleagues in the wider international education sector. We will continue the critical work of engaging with our international partners at StudyWorld 2021 at the end of January.”

The introduction to the roadmap says: “Our industry has been devastated by Covid-19. We need to restore confidence in learning safely in English language teaching centres across the UK and get students back into our classrooms. To succeed, we must be bold, innovative and agile. And we must work together.

“As the national association of UK ELT providers, we will lead our sector to recovery in 2021. But everyone – English UK, ELT centres, government, industry stakeholders, the international education sector, global agents and partners – has a vital part to play to get our industry back on its feet.

“Then we can aim higher: re-establishing UK ELT’s global position and capturing new and diverse sources of revenue. Work with us and together we will celebrate success once more.”

It targets five key groups which have been or could be major UK ELT customers:

- Established EU market agents and ETOs focused on UK ELT

- Established non-EU market agents and ETOs focused on UK ELT

- Emerging market agents and ETOs not yet focused on UK ELT

- Students interested in long-term study in the UK

- Buyers interested in partnerships beyond traditional onshore recruitment

Positive messaging lines centre on the UK being a safe, accessible and supportive place to study offering high quality and innovative international education opportunities.  

Both existing and new digital channels and events will be used to share the messages and English UK intends to work with the British Council and the Department for International Trade to amplify campaigns and key messages.

“Together we will create new opportunities to engage with key audiences and promote the whole UK international education offer.”

To support the campaign and tweak where necessary, English UK will regularly collect data from its member centres, supplementing quarterly and annual statistics reports with in depth studies on priority markets in partnership with the British Council and insight partners Bonard.