Agents are increasingly interested in working with language centres outside the best-known destinations of London and the South of England.

At this year's StudyWorld London some schools noticed a new interest from agents, simply because of their location.

Christine Goodwin of the Northumbria School of English in the North-East, said: "Some of the agents have come to see me specifically because I am in the North. They said they were looking for something different, and that's the first time that's happened."

Richard Day, co-ordinator of English UK North, agreed that agents increasingly want to offer a wider variety of good schools to students.

"I've noticed over the last five years or so that agents are very much looking to expand their portfolio to include areas they haven't previously included, like the North of England. There is a lot more interest."

"But they are interested in centres in the North as well as those they already use, not instead of them. It's also a bit like having dots on a map – lots of agents used to have gaps between the centres they used in the South and those in Scotland. They want to fill in the gaps."

Mr Day said there were other reasons for increasing interest in Northern language centres. These included accessibility via regional airports, growth in the number of language centres in some major cities such as Manchester, and also increased awareness as a result of sustained marketing by English UK North.

by Susan Young (susan@englishuk.com)