Hundreds of delegates have spent the past few days in Brighton for an event that showcases Britain’s language schools and brings them together with valuable contacts working in the sector.
StudyWorld, the international English language school conference, started on Monday (26 January) and ended today (Wednesday 28 January), with the aim of bringing more trade to the UK.
In Brighton and Hove alone, the sector employs more than 700 people and generates about £44 million for the local economy as well as £2 million in tax revenues, according to a study published last year.
Brighton is the country’s second biggest destination for English language learning outside London, and Britain is the most popular destination in the world for residential courses.
Brighton hosted StudyWorld every year until 2006 – and this week the showpiece event returned for the first time since then.
The conference was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Brighton Metropole and Sea Life Brighton hosted a networking event last night.
The return of StudyWorld came as language schools in Brighton and Hove, as elsewhere, continue trying to recover from a series of challenges including the covid pandemic restrictions, Brexit and cost of living pressures.
Since the pandemic, more people are learning English in their home country – and AI is adding to the difficulties facing those who run language schools.
Fewer learners are travelling – and those who do are more likely to be teens coming for shorter, experiential, language-learning holidays rather than immersive longer stays.
This has reduced the need for hosts although fewer people have a spare room because children are living with their parents for longer or moving back in, for example, after university.
At the same time, many people who do have a spare room are turning to sites such as Airbnb rather than to language schools.
Huan Japes, the acting chief executive of English UK which runs StudyWorld, said: “English language teaching is not only a really important part of the local economy for areas like Brighton and Hove but brings important soft power benefits to the UK which are increasingly important at a time of international uncertainty.
“The UK’s language schools are resilient and innovative – and the study travel agents who came to build relationships with them have been impressed by what our educators have to offer.
“Our delegates are all very positive about the business which will come from these introductions.
“The event highlighted plenty of grounds for optimism and this under-appreciated sector remains an asset to Brighton and Hove and looks like being so for many years to come.”
Has Huan Japes just made a Shakespearean joke worthy of a public schoolboy?