UK English language schools are suffering a devastating 80% drop in income since Brexit, as students from EU countries fall away rather than navigate the complicated business of trying to enter the country now, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Prior to Brexit, students arriving from the EU only needed an identity card to enter. Now they must present a passport and those from non-EU countries must also purchase a £95 visa. Rather than cough up for the expense and trouble of getting a passport, schoolchildren’s parents are opting to send them to language schools in Ireland or Malta to study English.
Up until 2021, the 1.5 million schoolchildren visiting the UK accounted for approximately 11% of income from tourism across the country and, further, their presence generated about 40,000 jobs.
“The collapse in the school group market is unnecessary as schoolchildren present no security risk, will not disappear into the black economy and start driving minicabs, and parents who let their children go on school trips are generally quite keen for their teachers to bring them back home,” Kurt Janson, director of the Tourism Alliance told The Guardian. “This is an obvious situation where the government needs to set aside its dogma on passports and work with the industry to find a practical solution.”
