- Language tutoring demand surges as students prepare for summer trips
- Spanish and French dominate, echoing Brits’ favourite travel spots
- Tutoring enquiries for languages double during summer compared to winter
FindTutors, part of the GoStudent group and a major provider of private tuition across the UK, has reported a notable rise in summer language tutoring, with parents keen to boost their children’s Spanish and French skills ahead of holidays abroad.
As the end of the school year approaches, language learning is seeing renewed interest, according to the platform’s latest figures. Language tutor requests, which make up roughly 15% of enquiries in winter, surge to more than twice that level across the warmer months of June to August.
Travel appears to be a driving factor behind this trend. Spanish, the UK’s most requested language for tutoring at 45%, is also the nation’s favourite foreign destination. French follows closely, accounting for 32% of tutor requests – in line with its status as the second most-visited country for British tourists.
The top four most sought-after languages this summer are:
- Spanish – 45%
- French – 32%
- German – 13%
- Italian – 9%
Despite this seasonal upturn, overall engagement with language study has been on the decline. A British Council report published in 2023 found that only one in five first-year secondary students were considering taking a language GCSE, often citing doubts about its career relevance.
Albert Clemente, CEO at FindTutors, comments:
“Learning a language is one of the most rewarding things you can do, whether for work or just for an upcoming trip. There’s nothing better than finding you can connect with someone in their language, and even a few basic phrases can be incredibly useful when visiting somewhere new.”
He adds:
“Kids have a remarkable ability to learn languages but with the rise of AI and automatic translation tools, these skills seem to be falling down the priority list. Now is a great time to try to reverse this trend, and this summer represents a fantastic chance to learn a language, enhancing not only career prospects but undoubtedly overall quality of life too.”
Clemente also notes:
“The data shows that when thinking about which language to learn it’s often easiest to go with the one that you are likely to need in the short term. As immersion is one of the best ways to passively learn a language, this exposure can turn lessons into a lifelong skill. FindTutors helps thousands of students every month to discover their passion for languages and also get a head start on the return to school in September.”