Increase in student visa applications for the UK

Headline data: The ASILS Italy member survey report shows that there were 28,945 international students enrolled in 2024, a 1.8 per cent increase over 28,442 in 2023, when the association exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

There were 26,353 in-person students at member schools in 2024, a two per cent increase over the previous year, with a further 2,592 students enrolled for online courses, a slight decline against 2023 numbers.

At principal campuses of ASILS members, there was an average of 835 students in 2024, which was an increase compared with 819 students in 2023.

In 2024 there were 136,945 student weeks delivered, up by two per cent compared with 134,198 weeks in 2023.

Source markets: In terms of student weeks, the USA was the top source country with 13,949 weeks, an increase of 30.8 per cent which saw it jump from third place in the previous year.

China was the second-largest market by student weeks with 11,762, a slight decrease, followed by Germany with 11,564, up by 8.5 per cent. The top five was completed by Switzerland (6,324 weeks) and Israel (6,300).

Student profile: The ASILS survey showed that there were increased market shares for the youngest and oldest student cohorts in 2024.

The 50+ group accounted for 30.5 per cent of all enrolments in 2024, up from 29.2 per cent in the previous year and 22.8 per cent in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Meanwhile the under 18 young learner cohort accounted for 7.4 per cent of students last year, an increase compared with 6.7 per cent in 2023 and 7.2 per cent in 2019.

The 18-25 age group was the second-largest group, accounting for 25.9 per cent of students, down from 27.6 per cent in the previous year, followed by the 26-50 cohort (18.2 per cent), and the 26-35 group (17.9 per cent).

Recruitment channels: School websites and social media channels were the main routes of recruitment for ASILS schools in 2024, accounting for 49.9 per cent of bookings, followed by agents on 28.9 per cent – a similar ratio to the previous year. Direct (not-internet) bookings and school/university partnerships were other channels of recruitment.

Value: The economic value of international students at ASILS schools in 2024, considering course and accommodation expenditure, was estimated €63.5 million, exceeding the €60.4 million evaluation in the previous year and setting a new record for the association.

Accommodation: There was a slight increase in international students using school accommodation (51.3 per cent), followed by apartments (21.1 per cent) and homestay (18.2).

2025 predictions: ASILS members were relatively optimistic for further growth for the sector in the current year, as 37.1 per cent expected an increase in business over 2024 and only 11.4 per cent estimated that there would be a decrease. Almost half of the schools surveyed expected the current year to be stable compared with 2024.

Fabrizio Fucile , National Secretary of ASILS told StudyTravel Magazine, that the association has seen a slight downtown in the last quarter of the year and that the market has stabilized at above pre-Covid levels.

Commenting on the market trends, he explained, “The markets showing the greatest interest are Germany and the United States, with Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico also growing. There would also be great interest from India, but at the moment it is difficult to assess this due to the great difficulty in obtaining a study visa for a language school; the same situation applies to North African countries,” he said, adding that numbers for the Marco Polo and Turandot schemes are also decreasing.

However, some recognition and visa issues are hampering further growth for the sector, Fabrizio said.

“The challenges that ASILS schools are currently facing continue to concern the path towards possible recognition of the sector by public institutions and finding a possible change in the legislation that currently makes it difficult to issue visas even for completely safe countries (such as the United Kingdom and the United States, for example) if the student does not already have a good certified language level (B1 or B2).”