69,297 foreign students attended courses at local English-language specialised schools last year, a drop of 4.7 per cent when compared to the previous year, the National Statistics Office said.

According to records provided by the Ministry of Education and Employment, there were 38 schools operating in the business of English-language teaching during 2011.

Girls accounting for 58.2 per cent of the total student population. The largest share of students fell within the 13-17 year old age group, at 27,197, or 39.2 per cent of the total. Children below 13 were in the minority, numbering 2,741 (4.0 per cent).

Students from Italy accounted for 17.8 per cent of the total. Students from Germany, the Russian Federation, France and Spain came next with shares of 17.1, 11.9, 11.7 and 10.2 per cent respectively.

Italy, Germany and Spain registered drops when compared to the previous year, while the Russian Federation and France registered increases.
 
Foreign students accounted for 4.9 per cent of the total tourists visiting Malta during the year under review, down from 5.5 per cent a year earlier. The average length of stay of these students for 2011 was estimated at 2.6 weeks.

In 2011, teachers working in English-language specialised schools numbered 1,287. Of these, 88.3 per cent were working on a part-time basis. The vast majority were women.