Every year 1,5 million Italians choose to study English abroad

The importance of English is known to all: many considered it the “passepartout to the world”; it’s really important to learn it in order to have better opportunities in the world of work and to face certain moments in our lives in a safer way.

80% of web sites and content available on the web are in English: accessing all these resources is not only very interesting, but it is above all very useful when it comes to find job or study opportunities.

For those wishing to enter or establish themselves in the world of work, English is a fundamental requirement. For young graduates, getting to know Business English can certainly help them find a good and profitable job.

According to recent surveys, out of a sample of 3 million students, about 65% of respondents who have a good knowledge of English also have found a good job.

And not only this: people who know English earn more (for example in Switzerland, people with a high level of English earn 18% more).

Furthermore, English is THE language of commerce, science, technology and more.

Furthermore, English is important not only for working abroad but also for working in Italy because is the most used foreign language in Italian companies

On the labor market a good knowledge of English is now an extremely important criterion. After Italian, English is the most used language in external and internal exchanges of Italian companies.

For all these reasons, in Italy training abroad is becoming increasingly important. Every year thousands of students have the opportunity to move abroad to live a fundamental educational experience.
They do it through the numerous scholarships offered  (Erasmus+, Inpsieme, Itaca, Talenti Neodiplomati etc) but also through personal funds.

In fact, starting from 2000s, student mobility has continued to expand, and only between 2009 and 2016 there was an increase in Italian students engaged in training activities abroad of 111%: from 3,400 to 7,400. With a clear percentage of female students (59% in 2014) compared to their male counterparts.

In 2018 it is estimated that between departures and arrivals, the mobility of Italian Erasmus students registered a large turnout. In fact, according to the figures of the Indire agency, last year almost 38,000 Italian students had a study experience abroad..

As for the destination countries, the most popular ones among Italian students are mainly England and Spain followed by France, Germany and Portugal.

But not only scholarships, as mentioned above: an IPSOS survey has estimated that every year over 1.5 million Italians choose to use their holidays to deepen their knowledge of a foreign language.

They are mostly young people between 11 and 18, mostly interested in improving their English skills. England and Ireland are the most popular destinations, although Malta, closer and cheaper, also receives sustained flows; more expensive, and therefore less frequented, destinations such as the United States, penalized also by the most demanding bureaucratic obligations.

The Italian market for English language schools (but also for summer camps and boarding schools), constitutes a broad option to be explored by virtue of the numbers that underline how mobility is growing by students who decide to make a training experience abroad.

The chart below shows how Italy is the leading European country in the number of students sent to the UK.