English UK welcomes the travel changes announced yesterday which will make it easier for more international students to travel to the UK.

From Monday 1 November, the seven remaining countries will come off the UK's red travel list. They are Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Also on Monday 1 November, 30 more countries will be added to the UK's approved vaccine programme list, bringing the total number to over 135 countries. Fully vaccinated adults (who have a UK-approved vaccine) and all under 18s arriving from these countries will not need to quarantine and only need to take a day two test.

We are delighted to welcome more new members to our association for the second month in a row and look forward to meeting representatives in person at one of our events very soon. 

IH Bristol owner Val Hennessy spoke to the BBC yesterday about what she and other English language centres need from today's Budget. Her interview was included on the Today programme and on the BBC News Channel.

1,500 asylum seekers are currently waiting for a place on RefuAid's language programme, to gain the qualifications they need to continue in their career or education.  

We asked RefuAid's language lead, Mohib Ullah, to tell us more about his clients' journeys to the qualifications they need, and how English UK members can help.

Huge thanks to the team at English UK member UKLC who have handed over almost £3,500 to the Eddie Byers Fund.

We are inviting bids from member centres to help improve the confidence, language and teaching skills of English Teaching Association (ETA) members in 40 nations.

Our business events last week received a welcome bounce from the lifting of Covid travel restrictions. StudyWorld autumn enjoyed extra last minute-agent bookings and the largest-ever educator numbers for an online event, while the mood at the face to face ELT Marketing Conference was more positive than at an English UK event since the pandemic began.