English UK - who we are and what we do
English UK is the national membership association of accredited English language teaching (ELT) centres in the UK. Our 300+ member centres are fully accredited by the British Council to teach English.
We represent the UK's ELT sector nationally and internationally, promoting the highest quality in teaching and student services.
To support our members, we provide business-critical intelligence, tailored advice, events and training, tendering opportunities, and we campaign for policies that will allow the UK ELT sector to thrive. We are a UK-registered charity.
Our mission, vision and values
Our mission is to harness the collective energy of our membership to champion and advance UK ELT.
Our vision is for a UK English language teaching sector that transforms lives through learning and intercultural understanding.
Our values: Community, inclusivity, integrity, responsibility, and sustainability.
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Our latest publications and reports
2023 student statistics report published May 2023:
Student Statistics Report 2023: English language students in the UK in 2022 (summary)
Our strategy to 2025 published May 2023:
English UK Strategy to 2025: seizing opportunities, striving for success
Position paper published April 2023:
Help us become the world's premier ELT destination again
2022 student statistics report published May 2022:
Student Statistics Report 2022: English language students in the UK in 2021 (summary)
Mission statement published December 2021:
Our mission, vision and values
2021 Annual Report and Accounts published May 2022:
English UK Ltd - 2021 Report and Accounts
English UK Enterprises Ltd - 2021 Report and Accounts
Environmental action plan published January 2022:
Turning green: an environmental action plan for the UK ELT sector
Antiracism plan published July 2021:
Becoming antiracist: promoting a fairer, more inclusive and equitable UK ELT sector
Roadmap to recovery after Covid-19 published December 2020:
Rebuilding the international market for UK English language teaching: a roadmap to recovery after Covid-19
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Supporting and promoting quality in English language teaching
Membership of English UK is a badge of quality. English UK educator members have to pass Accreditation UK inspections, a scheme we run and develop with the British Council that insists on high-quality care and teaching.
We are committed to the professional development of our members. We deliver training and CPD opportunities through our events and training programme. We also offer students a complaints service and emergency support if anything goes wrong.
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Building comprehensive intelligence on the UK ELT industry
We work closely with our insight partner BONARD on two industry-leading student data schemes, our annual student statistics and our quarterly student statistics - QUIC, both of which have transformed the insights available to our members and the wider UK ELT sector. We also work with the British Council and publish in-depth market reports offering practical advice and insights for centres accredited by Accreditation UK.
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Promoting our members and UK ELT worldwide
We help maximise business opportunities for members through targeted promotional events and activities in the UK and overseas. These include our UK-focused event StudyWorld, and a programme of overseas events to promote UK ELT.
We also run promotional campaigns such as our English with Confidence campaign. English with Confidence is an international-facing campaign to support market recovery. It was launched in the summer of 2021 and is coordinated under the GREAT Britain brand.
We also encourage the best agents to join our partner agency scheme and form closer links with members.
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Helping our members succeed
To ensure our member centres thrive, we offer a range of benefits such as access to our bi-weekly member Q&As, support with student visa queries, access to campaigning resources, discounted copyright and motion picture licences, discounted attendance at our conferences and training, a free place at our annual conference and regular updates and bulletins plus access to tendering opportunities.
Our corporate members include many leading industry service providers who attend our events, and feature in our publications, helping to build closer working relationships with language centres.
Our partner agencies feature in our partner agency directory, helping to put quality agents in touch with quality ELT centres to benefit students.
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Speaking up for the UK ELT sector
We campaign on behalf of the UK's English language teaching industry for policies that will help the sector to survive, compete and thrive.
Our public affairs team, supported by an external relations advisory group of member centres works to create the best-possible operating environment for UK ELT.
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