While the global recession and curbs to student visas in some countries made 2011 a more challenging year for those offering adult language programmes in Europe and the US, the story has been quite different in the junior language market.
Major players have seen sustained, sometimes rapid, growth in recruitment over the last few years; opening new campuses and increasing the diversification of nationalities on their courses.
Driving the phenomenon is an ever more competitive job market in which having a second language – and having studied abroad – gives young people a distinct advantage. For this reason, say providers, during a period of economic austerity in many language learning markets, parents are willing to continue spending on their children’s education while making savings on their own.
“The world has in effect become a smaller place and parents want their children to have the knowledge and language ability to play a full part in a globally interconnected future,” says Matt Hird, Study Centres Director at ISIS Education Group, whose UK summer programmes have grown 25% over the past four years to around 12,000 students.
The Ardmore Group, which is opening seven new juniors centres in 2012 in the US, the UK and Canada, also puts its success down to such parental ambition. “Job opportunities have been shrinking with the global crisis and employers are becoming more selective therefore having English as a second language has become more important,” says chief executive Sarah Flindall.
Multilingual demand
It appears the demand is not only for English courses. In Europe, Italy’s Linguaviva says it sees around 5% growth each year for its Italian classes, while Germany’s DID says interest from students wanting to learn German in Berlin has increased.
“Junior courses are becoming an educational rite of passage”
Another success story is Azurlingua in the South of France, which has expanded from 20-30 students to 2,500 students in the last 10 years. Director, Jean Luc Librati, says the French market is coming to maturity, with junior courses becoming an educational rite of passage for language learners and being taken more seriously.
“Let’s say that 10 years ago, it was more like ‘let’s have fun and at the same time learn French’. Now it’s more ‘let’s learn French and at the same time we’ll have fun’,” says Libreti.
Students on Azurlingua’s courses now take exams recognised not only by the French Government, but also the Common European Framework of Reference for languages which enables qualifications to be recognised across European borders.
“This new way to recognise language ability is becoming better and better known,” says Libreti. “It is also proof that the market is reaching a more professional level.”
While the need for a second language is certainly the fuel for growth, other factors are catalysts. One such is visa conditions. As junior courses are generally short haul and rarely year round, students can usually enter a country far more simply than adults, often on a tourist visa. [more>>]
In the UK, where government plans to reduce student visas by 250,000 by 2015 have affected non-visa nationals, junior programmes remain for the most part unaffected, given the high proportion of EU business. And in the USA, junior provider PLUS says its cohort grew from a couple of hundred students to approximately 9,000 between 2003 and 2011, with only one visa rejection in that time. “It is because all our students come in on student visitor visas,” says operations director, Lisa Fitzgerald.
Many providers say that new markets are also boosting uptake, particularly those in the developing world. US provider Langauge Academy Florida, which sees about 20% growth annually in its Fort Lauderdale programme, receives most of its students from Europe – chiefly Italy, Spain and France. However, Brian Mauk, junior program director, says countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkey, Russia, Sweden and Brazil are sending an increasing number and have become targets for the company’s marketing efforts.
Countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkey, Russia, Sweden and Brazil have become targets
Increased awareness of junior products is also helping providers. For Mauk, the relationships the company has built with agents around the world over more than a decade have helped drive “word of mouth” marketing. Hird of ISIS says consumers have also changed their attitudes. “Teachers and students are more knowledgeable about the courses available and parents are more trusting and willing to allow their children to travel.”
Sector challenges
But despite the sector’s good health, operators say the market still poses challenges and entry is not for the faint hearted. One hurdle is that junior programmes are restricted to doing most of their business during school holidays. “We have people in April, July–August, but on the adult programme we have a lot more people throughout the year,” says Libreti.
“It’s hard work to prepare a summer school logistically”
“It’s hard work to prepare a summer school logistically,” adds Fitzgerald. This due in large part to the stringent standards required of schools caring for minors ‘in loco parentis’. In some countries language schools need separate accreditation for minors, while maintaining high standards is not cheap.
“The most important thing is security and a good reputation, and this costs a certain amount,” says Libreti, who employs 40 teachers and 50-60 activity leaders for his programmes.
That said, some schools say off-season recruitment is increasing, such as PLUS, which welcomed around 2,000 students in the traditionally quiet period of February-March this year.
The market is undoubtedly becoming more competitive, and there are no short cuts to earning a good reputation with parents and agents. But it seems that the junior sector can be a lucrative market sector. This should encourage new and existing operators committed to providing a quality product. As Fitzgerald surmises, “The junior market is not an easy revenue stream… But if you do it right, it pays off.”
