Mature student market seeing growth in ELT sector – FELTOM CEO

The mature student market is seeing growth in the English language teaching sector, CEO of the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (FELTOM) Jessica Rees-Jones told Businessnow.mt, noting a surge in the 50+ segment.

Students aged 50, 65 and even 80+ who are very active mentally and physically, “choose Malta not only for the experience, but for the relationships they can build and memories they can create,” she said.

Recent data published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that 4,883 fewer foreign students attended English language courses at ELT schools in 2025 when compared to 2024, but the number of student weeks spent on the island actually increased by 5,387 from the previous year.

According to the NSO statistics, the 50+ age group, while containing the lowest number of students when compared to other age brackets, was the only age segment to see a rise in numbers between 2024 and 2025, going from 7,237 to 7,836.

Asked about the mature student market, she said that FELTOM, through its own past data, has seen growth in this market. She said that mature students are less likely to travel to multiple destinations, noting that they tend to stay longer. By mature student market, she refers to students aged 25+.

The 50+ category is the most significant growth market, she said. As a result, she said that FELTOM will be modifying the datapoints it collects for its own data to allow for more specific numbers through more age-brackets. Instead of just capturing the 50+ age bracket for instance, they would include 50-65, 65-75 and 75+ age brackets, to get a clearer picture.

“We have students coming through who are 80+ who are cycling around Gozo, who are fit, energetic and healthy.” FELTOM’s own data shows that the 50+ market is heavily European-dominated, with the German market being the biggest.

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She believes that the ELT sector will be targeting the mature market more in the future. “It’s a market that has a willingness to learn. They’ve got more time and more money to spend. They want to explore, and they place value on relationships.”

Asked about the drop in overall students, she said its “not insignificant.”

“There is a natural wave to how people study how, what kind of classroom environment they want, where they study. FELTOM is driving that awareness,” she said.

She added that the education world has not always been adaptive to change. “Covid was a major wake up call, where education was one of the biggest sectors that adapted and pivoted for better or for worse, instantly, through online learning etc.” There’s a lot more adaptability now in the sector, she said.

The sector has to be resilient, and in order to be resilient, it has to be adaptive and open to change, she said. There is an appetite for change within FELTOM, and it is currently going through changes Ms Rees-Jones said, mentioning that it has a new chair of the Accreditation Council, has new board members, is looking at how to adapt the accreditation system, among other things.

“At FELTOM we are embracing change (…) and I think that’s the message we are bringing through to the sector, that we have to embrace change. “We’re trying to listen to what’s happening locally and globally and saying, is this going to work for us? Isn’t it? What do we take on? What don’t we take on?”

Regarding the increase in student weeks compared to the drop in overall numbers, and what is more important, she said its a fine line.

“You want the businesses based on volume. You need students to, especially in this world of AI, place value on the experience of coming here, and that is a key feature that we that we want to offer in our schools, that it’s also about the relationships, the memories that they create while they’re here, because of the people to people interaction.”

“So yes, volume is necessary to sustain the industry, but not volume at the expense of quality. And I think that’s the tipping point. Each of our schools have a different value proposition. Some of them are in historical buildings. Some of them offer a focus on families and have swimming pools on site They have a niche feature. And that’s where the strengths of FELTOM schools are.”