In 2023, foreign students attending English language courses at licensed English Language Teaching (ELT) schools in Malta totaled 78,567, an increase of 21,892 from 2022. The majority were from Italy (27.8 %), followed by Germany (10.4 %) and France (9.0 %). EU countries accounted for 73.9 % of these students.

The largest age group was 15 and under, representing 28.3 % of students. Those aged 50 and over were the minority, numbering 6,080. Female students outnumbered males, making up 61.9 % of the total.

July was the busiest month for ELT schools, with 17.1 % of annual attendance, followed by August (13.4 %) and March (10.5 %). The most popular course was ‘General English: Standard’, chosen by 73.1% of students, followed by ‘Intensive English’ courses at 16.5%.

Foreign students accounted for 273,131 student weeks, with 99.0% of courses held in person and only 1.0% online. The average course duration was 3.5 weeks, down 0.9 weeks from the previous year.

Colombian students had the highest average course duration at 14.7 weeks, followed by Chilean and South Korean students at 13.3 and 10.7 weeks, respectively.

In 2023, ELT schools employed 620 teaching staff, with 25% aged 55 and over, and 70.3% were female. Non-teaching staff numbered 603, with 69.2% employed full-time.

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Source: National Statistics Office (NSO Malta)