In recent years, Vietnamese demand for English learning has tended to expand in terms of client background diversity. Not only limited to young age learner groups, learners wishing to obtain international certificates to graduate or study abroad but also working and elderly people who want to improve their foreign language knowledge.
A reason for this trend is the high level of "openness" of the economy in the integration period into the global economy, which provides an ideal setting for multinational corporations to make significant investments in Vietnam. This promotes the need to equip Vietnamese workers with foreign language skills, especially English, to be ready to participate in a professional working environment with attractive income at foreign enterprises.
However, the speaking English skills of Vietnamese people are still quite weak. In 2019, according to the ranking of English First (Sweden) company, Vietnam only ranked 69th out of 112 countries on the English Proficiency Index. This statistic also shows that Vietnam has dropped continuously since 2015.
On the other hand, with a scale of nearly 100 million people, the golden population structure and the increasing demand for foreign language learning to access better job opportunities in the future. These two factors contribute to creating a potential English language training (ELT) market for businesses both at home and abroad.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic has forced many non-public educational institutions in general and English language centers in particular to close, this has made the potential English training market. Some of the top names have participated in this market such as Apax Leader, Vietnam USA Society English Centers VUS, ILA, Apollo Vietnam, British Council, ACET, Wall Street English,...
Apax Leaders
Apax Leaders is developed and invested by Apax Holdings Investment Joint Stock Company, operating mainly in the field of training, teaching English, and developing comprehensive thinking skills for the young generation in Vietnam. Despite being entangled in many controversies recently, in 2023, Apax Leaders initially successfully restructured the system with 34 centers nationwide reopening with 12,000 students. The brand aims to increase this number to 133 English centers by 2026.
In terms of business results, Apax Leaders is still at the top of revenue in the English market. Although the brand is "exposed" in 2022, Apax's revenue still reaches nearly VND 1000 billion. However, sales decreased by 36% compared to 2021 and decreased by 43% compared to 2020. Apax Leader's profit after tax in 2020 reached nearly VND 62 billion. This figure dropped sharply in 2021 with less than VND 2 billion, down nearly 97% compared to 2020.
Vietnam USA Society
VUS is a long-standing English language center system, with many branches spread throughout Ho Chi Minh City. In addition, the Vietnam USA Society English Center is also a strategic cooperation partner with CUNY University of America - a leading public university in the US with more than 450,000 students studying. Despite facing a series of challenges, VUS still affirms its position with more than 50 operating facilities in key cities such as Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Vung Tau... keep 70,000 students.
VUS revenue is always at the top among English training centers in Vietnam. In 2020, revenue recorded more than VND 12,00 billion. This number decreased to 24% in 2021 and continued to increase by 42% over the same period in 2022, reaching nearly VND 1400 billion. VUS's profit fluctuates slightly from year to year. Specifically, in 2020, VUS's profit reached about VND 150 billion. Profit after tax dropped to 27% in 2021 and rebounded to over VND 150 billion in 2022.
Apollo Vietnam
Apollo English is the first 100% FDI English training center in Vietnam, established in 1995. Apollo is a member of International House - a prestigious and longstanding English organization of the United Kingdom. With the slogan "Where the best become better", Apollo currently has more than 50 modern English learning centers in major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Nghe An,...
Apollo's revenue and profit fluctuate continuously from year to year. Revenue reached more than VND 700 billion in 2020, then decreased to 10% in 2021 and increased again in 2022 to nearly VND 900 billion. Meanwhile, profit also tended to grow like revenue. Profit in 2021 reached more than VND 60 billion, down nearly VND 36 billion compared to 2020. After that, profit increased again in 2022, up 36%, and recorded more than VND 100 billion.
British Council
The British Council is an international educational and cultural cooperation organization of the United Kingdom established in 1934 with offices in more than 100 countries and has been present in Vietnam since 1993.
The brand operates at six locations in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh. Each year, the British Council connects with thousands of students, educators, and academics to support and find opportunities to learn English, access high-quality education and earn globally recognized qualifications.
In the two years 2020-2021, the British Council's revenue decreased by 16% from more than VND 460 billion to VND 390 billion. Meanwhile, profit after tax dropped sharply in just 1 year from a positive profit of more than VND 22 billion in 2020 to nearly VND 60 billion in 2021, down 350%.
ACET
ACET was established in 2013 under the management of the educational organization IDP Education. ACET's mission is to equip students with a solid foundation of English and academic skills. In particular, ACET is also one of the most mentioned names in the IELTS test preparation community in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. HCM.
ACET's revenue in 2 years 2020-2021 recorded an increase of 14% from nearly 320 billion dongs to more than VND 360 billion. However, ACET's profit after tax also dropped sharply in just 1 year like the British Council. Profit recorded a positive level of nearly VND 70 billion in 2020 then dropped to negative nearly VND 35 billion in 2021, down nearly 150%.
Yola
Founded in 2009, YOLA Education has grown to 17 centers nationwide, and more than 100,000 students are committed to unleashing every Vietnamese student's potential power. With flexibility in designing a comprehensive English learning path that helps develop language, critical thinking, value shaping, and academic skills for all ages, YOLA students have earned a series of top English scores in Vietnam in international certification exams.
In the context of the strong outbreak of the Covid pandemic, Yola English Center was also inevitably affected. Accordingly, Yola's business picture also became darker from 2020 through 2022. Specifically, the revenue of this center in 2022 was only about VND 190 billion (down 8% compared to 2020 and down 25% compared to 2019). Meanwhile, profit after tax was also at negative growth and recorded an increase in loss year by year. From maintaining a loss of about VND 30 billion in 2020 and 2021, the loss increased by 70%, and in 2022, it recorded a negative VND 51 billion.
Wall Street English
Established in 1972 and experienced more than 47 years of development, Wall Street English is now the leading English language center in Vietnam with modern and effective teaching methods. Launched in Vietnam in 2013, the brand now has 7 branches, mainly in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong.
WSE's revenue reached nearly VND 190 billion in 2021, then decreased slightly by 7% in 2022, reaching VND 170 billion. Profit after tax recorded a negative level and the loss increased rapidly 455% after 1 year, from negative VND 13 billion in 2021 to nearly VND 75 billion in 2022.
Language Link
Language Link was established in 1975 in London, focusing on training in English as a preparation for students on their academic and career paths. Language Link came to Vietnam in 1996 and immediately chose Hanoi as an office. After 27 years of development in Vietnam, up to now, the brand has 14 branches concentrated in the northern provinces such as Hanoi, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Thai Binh,... of which there are 3 main branches in the central and southern regions.
Language Link is the brand that recorded outstanding growth in profit in 2022. Its revenue fluctuated slightly in 3 years. In 2020, the revenue reached nearly VND 200 billion, then one year decreased by nearly 35% to VND 130 billion. By 2022, revenue increased to more than VND 200 billion. Regarding profit after tax, in the two years 2020-2021, profit fluctuated around 1 billion dongs. In 2022, profit recorded a remarkable increase, 17 times higher than 2 years ago, reaching nearly VND 17 billion.
RES
RES is an international English school system established in 2007 specializing in IELTS, English for Children and Teenagers. Being the Cambridge International Standard English Center system and recognized by the Australian Council IDP as an excellent partner for 8 consecutive years.
Currently, RES Center has a total of 38 branches nationwide. It holds the record for the center with the largest number of students studying for international certificates of IELTS in the country (22,300 students, statistics in 2018) and also has always held the record for the number of students achieving high IELTS scores nationwide for 12 consecutive years.
In the last 3 years, RES' revenue has continuously achieved a positive growth rate. Especially in 2022, revenue increased by 2 times compared to 2021 and more than 10 times higher than 2020, reaching nearly VND 190 billion. RES profit in 2022 also increased sharply, reaching VND 3.5 billion, 15 times higher than 2 years ago which was only about VND 260 million after tax.
The ability to communicate in English is becoming almost "mandatory" for people in the integration period. This trend creates a vibrant English training market with great opportunities. However, the advantage still goes to English-language systems that have a methodical investment in curricula, and high-quality teachers, and bravely implement cutting-edge technology. From there, help learners not only confidently communicate in English but also develop comprehensive thinking capacity and necessary skills to become a global citizen.
Source: Vietdata's 2022 Vietnam English Language Training Market Report