Teaching English as a Foreign Language: 2024
The majority of students attending English language courses in Malta came from Italy (24.9 per cent), followed by France (10.3 per cent) and Germany (10.1 per cent). Overall, 73.9 per cent of total students originated from an EU country (Table 1).
The largest share of language students was in the 15 and under age bracket, accounting for 28.1 per cent of the total students following ELT courses, followed by the 16 and 17-year-old age group, which accounted for 22.0 per cent. Students aged 50 and over were in the minority and numbered 7,237 (8.9 per cent). Female students outnumbered males, and accounted for 61.3 per cent of the entire ELT student population (Tables 2 and 3, Chart 1).
Chart 1. Foreign students following courses¹ in local licensed ELT schools by age group and sex
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July was the busiest month for local licensed ELT schools for courses attendance, accounting for 17.0 per cent of the annual total. August and March followed at 14.5 and 10.4 per cent respectively (Table 4).
The most popular course uptake in local licensed ELT schools was ‘General English: Standard’, whereby a total of 62,299 students, or 77.0 per cent opted for this course. This was followed by the ‘Intensive English’ courses, with 14.8 per cent of total students (Table 5, Chart 2).
Chart 2. Percentage distribution of foreign students following courses¹ in local licensed ELT schools by type of course
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Notes:
1. English specific purposes courses include business English.
2. ‘Other’ includes exam preparation courses, one-to-one lessons, combination of courses, and other courses.
3. Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Foreign students enrolled in local licensed ELT schools accounted for 256,868 student weeks. The absolute majority of courses (99.8 per cent of total student weeks) were held physically while online courses accounted for only 0.2 per cent. The average number of student weeks during the year under review stood at 3.2, a decrease of 0.3 compared to previous year (Table 7). With an average of 13.9 weeks, students from Colombia recorded the highest number of student weeks, followed by Chilean and South Korean students with average student weeks at 12.0 and 8.9 weeks respectively (Table 8 and 9).
In 2024, teaching and academic staff in local licensed ELT schools numbered 743, with the largest proportion (24.5 per cent) being in 25-34 age group. Female teachers and academic staff accounted for 66.4 per cent of the total (Table 10). Non-teaching staff amounted to 638, of whom 69.4 per cent were employed on a full-time basis (Table 10 and 11).
Chart 3. Percentage distribution of foreign students following courses¹ in local licensed ELT schools by age group
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1 Some courses were held remotely.
Chart 4. Number of foreign students and student tuition weeks by the top 10 countries of citizenship
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Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Chart 5. Number of foreign students and tuition weeks
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Tables
Tables
Methodological Notes
1. Data used in this News Release is based on information collected by the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation which was subsequently analysed by NSO.
2. Data was collected by the ELT Council during the period December 2024-February 2025. All local licensed English Language Teaching (ELT) schools operating in 2024 responded to this questionnaire. A full list of ELT schools can be accessed here.
3. Breakdowns by country are based on the students’ citizenship as provided by the student. Thus, figures for foreign citizens are not directly comparable to other tourism figures published by the NSO.
4. For the scope of this release ‘teaching/academic staff’ includes all ELT permit holders. Staff employed with different schools carrying out the same role are counted once.
5. Figures on type of course followed and type of accommodation cannot be compared with data of previous years due to methodological enhancements held in 2020.
6. Definitions:
ELT schools refer to institutions which provide English-related courses for foreign students. More information can be accessed here.
Teaching/Academic staff refer to professional personnel directly involved in teaching students, including teachers, assistant teachers, ELT instructors and other ELT permit holders.
Non-Teaching staff refer to persons employed by educational institutions who have no instructional responsibilities, and do not hold an ELT permit. Examples are school management staff, front office staff, group leaders, administration staff, sales, marketing and reservations staff.
Full-time employment: includes employed persons on a full-time basis.
Part-time employment: includes employed persons whose normal hours are less than those of comparable full-time workers.
Casual employment: includes temporary workers, working irregular hours, who are employed on a part-time basis.
7. Number of student weeks by foreign students is calculated as follows: total number of days divided by seven.
8. Average number of student weeks per student is calculated as follows: total number of weeks divided by total number of students.
9. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately. For guidance on access and re-use of data please visit our dedicated webpage.
10. For further assistance send your request through our online request from.
11. A detailed news release calendar is available online.
Teaching English as a Foreign Language: 2024
- In 2024, 80,946 foreign students attended English language courses at 33 local licensed English Language Teaching (ELT) schools, an increase of 2,379 (+3.0 per cent) over 2023.
- The largest share of language students was in the 15 and under age bracket, accounting for 28.1 per cent of the total students following ELT courses, followed by the 16 and 17-year-old age group, which accounted for 22.0 per cent.
- The most popular course uptake in local licensed ELT schools was General English: Standard at 77.0 per cent.
- Foreign students enrolled in local licensed ELT schools accounted for 256,868 student weeks.
- In 2024, staff employed in local licensed ELT schools numbered 1,381, the majority being teaching/academic staff (53.8 per cent).
