EF Education First, the Swiss-headquartered global education company founded in 1965, has announced the relocation and expansion of two major international language campuses in Malta and Cape Town, South Africa. The investment signals strong post-pandemic demand for immersive English language learning and reinforces EF’s commitment to purpose-built campus design as a driver of student engagement across its worldwide network.
The new EF Malta campus opened at St. George’s Bay on 15 June 2026, while EF Cape Town relocated to a purpose-built facility at the V&A Waterfront in early June. Both campuses serve students ranging from age 7 to 85 drawn from more than 100 nationalities, offering programs from short courses to long-term stays that combine language instruction with cultural immersion.
The new EF Malta waterfront campus replaces a facility the company occupied for more than two decades. Spanning four floors, the school features modern classrooms, a large auditorium, dining and study areas, and outdoor terraces overlooking the Mediterranean. The campus brings EF’s language school, student residence and the exclusive EF Beach Club into closer proximity, creating what the company describes as an integrated learning-and-living environment.
“Students can combine affordability with academic progress and quality of life.”
That assessment from Carsten Knobloch, Executive Director of EF Malta, highlights a key competitive advantage. Malta operates as a Cambridge-accredited exam centre under EF, recently achieving a 100 per cent pass rate in its latest Cambridge English exam session — a metric that positions the island as a credible academic destination rather than merely a lifestyle one.
EF Cape Town’s relocation from a heritage building in Gardens to the V&A Waterfront — one of South Africa’s most visited tourism precincts — increases the school’s capacity from eight to ten classrooms, each equipped with interactive smartboards and locally sourced furniture. The precinct offers enhanced security and connectivity, two factors that matter to international families evaluating study-abroad destinations.
Beyond academics, EF Cape Town differentiates through experience-led programming. Students participate in Garden Route safaris, Cape Point excursions, Cederberg hiking trips and Stellenbosch wine tours. Community engagement is woven into the curriculum: volunteering opportunities include rehabilitating endangered African penguins with SANCCOB and supporting after-school care at iKhaya le Themba.
Many nationalities can study visa-free in South Africa for up to 90 days, while long-term students may combine studies with part-time work — a policy mix that lowers barriers to enrolment relative to competing English-language destinations such as the UK or Australia.
While EF operates most language schools directly rather than through franchise agreements, the company’s recent appointment of a global advisory board and its B2B licensing partnership with ECC Co Ltd in Japan suggest the company is diversifying its growth channels. The Malta and Cape Town investments demonstrate that EF continues to commit significant capital to owned infrastructure even as it experiments with asset-lighter licensing arrangements in markets like Japan.
For education franchise investors comparing models, EF’s approach offers a contrast to fully franchised competitors such as Wall Street English or Shane English School. EF retains direct control over campus design, curriculum delivery and student experience — a strategy that preserves brand consistency but requires heavier capital deployment per new market.
The simultaneous expansion in Malta and South Africa signals that EF sees destination-led immersive learning — not online-only delivery — as the growth engine for its language division. This has implications for education investors in the Gulf states and Southeast Asia, where governments are actively investing in English-language proficiency as part of economic diversification agendas.
Markets such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Malaysia have seen rising demand for premium English-language immersion, yet few global brands operate purpose-built campuses in these corridors at the scale EF delivers in Europe and Africa. Whether through direct investment, joint ventures or licensing arrangements, the addressable gap between student demand and campus supply in Asia and MENA remains substantial — and EF’s willingness to invest in bricks-and-mortar at a time when many competitors are retreating to digital-only models suggests the company believes physical campuses remain the higher-margin, higher-retention format.
