English UK members are completing a infamous hike to raise money to for schoolchildren in Palestine and Tanzania and asylum-seekers in the UK.

Education minister Hinds visited an English language school to promote the ELT sector, and settle nerves around the potential impact of Brexit.

Various stakeholders of English UK member schools have confirmed to The PIE News that they are seeing a slow creep in direct bookings within the ELT marketplace.

English UK has issued a call for applications to the second round of scholarships in memory of its late chief executive Eddie Byers.

English UK members have been asked to step up their lobbying efforts and join a campaign to spread awareness of the value of the ELT industry to the country.

A total of 497,028 English language students chose an English UK member centre last year, with the industry celebrating a 14% rise in numbers.

A successful 2017 for UK ELT made for widespread optimism at the English UK Academic Conference, with the industry now looking positively to the future after the 2015-2016 slump. "It’s been a much better year for UK ELT, there are lots of reasons to be optimistic," said Sarah Cooper of English UK.

The first growth in ELT student weeks since 2013 has been recorded by a cohort of English UK schools taking part in a quarterly reporting exercise.