40,000 jobs at risk as foreign pupils shun UK language schools

theguardian.com:

Language schools for foreign students are being “devastated” by a combination of post-Brexit red tape and the impact of the pandemic, threatening the future of a £3.2bn industry, tourism leaders have warned.

A report by the Tourism Alliance said even though the government had ended Covid travel measures, ministers had imposed unnecessary restrictions on children from France, Germany and other EU nations.

That has prompted a collapse in school group bookings and an estimated 80% drop in revenue across the industry this year, threatening 40,000 jobs, the Tourism Alliance said.

Until 2021, more than 1.5 million children came to the UK each year to study English or on organised school trips, accounting for about 11% of total annual tourism earnings.

Before Brexit, groups of children could travel using identity cards under the List of Travellers scheme.

Now, every child must have a passport, and children with non-EU passports – including refugees – also need a £95 visa. Schools are opting to go to Ireland or Malta for English language trips, or not travelling at all.

Kurt Janson, the director of the Tourism Alliance, said the passport requirement was having “a devastating impact on a large number of small businesses and local communities”.

“The collapse in the school group market is unnecessary as schoolchildren present no security risk, will not disappear into the black economy and start driving minicabs, and parents who let their children go on school trips are generally quite keen for their teachers to bring them back home.

“This is an obvious situation where the government needs to set aside its dogma on passports and work with the industry to find a practical solution.”

Many language schools are concentrated in seaside towns on