British Council releases new research on the English language markets of India and China

Previous research has shown that in the coming years the ELT market is expected to reach a high of 2 billion learners worldwide. The British Council’s latest research, carried out by Ipsos MORI, estimates the learning population in India alone at nearly 250 million people, with a further 300 million in China. This latest analysis demonstrates that the UK must respond to this growing demand, but in a way that looks to the future and lays the ground for long-term sustainable partnerships in learning with other countries. India and China show that as development spreads from major cities the demand for English intensifies.

Martin Davidson, Chief Executive of the British Council, said “The demand for English Language learning is huge and continues to grow, and with an estimated 550 million learners in India and China alone meeting this demand is beyond the means of any one organization. It will require a concerted response from the UK if we are to remain a partner of choice with governments overseas.”

At an event that saw some of the leading figures in the UK ELT industry hear from experts and British Council specialists from the two countries, the research addressed some of the most pressing questions the industry will face in the next decade, including not only who wants to learn English but what form of English language services will be required as their economies and populations continue to develop.

Maya Menon, Director of The Teacher Foundation, Bangalore said "India is complex and is grappling with many challenges, but today it is also a land with tremendous opportunities.  Providing access to English language is important in creating a level playing field and erasing the years of disparities that many Indians have faced in educational opportunities. To be able to do this, one of the key challenges is to improve the proficiency of the 4 million teachers of English in India. There are many opportunities for UK providers in India, especially if they partner with the government or with Indian organisations.”

Professor Gu Yueguo, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Beijing Foreign Studies University said "English continues to provide a window to the outside world for Chinese language learners from all walks of life. The shortage of qualified teachers of English in China has created a bottleneck in demand, but this provides the biggest opportunity for UK providers.”

Highlights from the research show that in India:

There is a large and growing market for English language services.

Whilst English is taught in all schools, the latest findings demonstrate that it may not be necessarily taught well, with an emphasis on passing tests rather than a real understanding.

This presents very real opportunities for UK organisations to help the teaching of English in schools.

And in China:

A strong and growing market exists, particularly in major cities and more developed coastal areas, especially as English is increasingly seen as a ‘must have’ in the larger, outwardly facing companies.

Though the market is currently dominated by adult learners, there is continued strong growth in the young learners market which presents a number of opportunities to UK providers

The EL market is seemingly unaffected by the global economic downturn; in fact it may well increase the importance of learning English as competition for jobs becomes more intense.

- ENDS –

To view the research online, and to view the presentations from key speakers, please visit www.britishcouncil.org/learning-india-china-elt-event

For further information, please contact Paul Melhuish, British Council Press Office, on 020 7389 4871 or email paul.melhuish@britishcouncil.org 

Notes to Editors:

Celebrating 75 years in 2009, the British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.

We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people.

We work in the arts, education, science, sport and governance and last year we reached over 128 million people.

We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government.

Our total turnover in 2007/8 was £565 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £197 million.