New research prompts support for language teachers

The National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE) has boosted support as a new report finds that 6 in 10 schools face challenges recruiting language teachers.

A quarter of responding schools said allocated language lessons have been impacted by pupils spending extra time on literacy and numeracy, and some teachers commented languages would fall off the timetable altogether due to staffing issues. Nearly 80 per cent of state schools said they relied on commercially produced resources to teach languages.

Almost all responding primary schools taught a language in the 2023/24 school year. 

Following French, Spanish and German, Latin is the fourth most learned language. It is taught in 3 per cent of responding schools, with more than half of Key Stage 2 pupils learning the classic where it is offered.

The language education preparedness of year six pupils moving into secondary schools has seen little change, with less than half (45 per cent) of primaries reporting contact with local secondary schools. 

Scott McDonald, chief executive of the British Council, said: "In a multilingual and multicultural Britain, every child should have the opportunity to learn a language. Research shows that investment in language education can return double the benefits to the UK economy. 

"As we welcome a new government committed to increasing the number of teachers in schools, we have a remarkable opportunity to address the language learning deficit and bridge the social divide in education."

Sixty per cent of responding schools said recruiting qualified languages teachers has been a challenge, with 33 per cent of state schools reporting it to be a “major issue”. Independent schools have also struggled, with 15 per cent stating recruitment is a “major issue” and 31 per cent a “minor issue”.  

The report also looked at attempting to widen the gaps between secondary state and independent schools.

Pupils who speak languages other than English at home, which are known as home, heritage and community languages, have more provisions to access qualifications in those languages at state schools. 

Seventy-nine per cent of state schools said they paid examination fees for home and heritage languages compared to just 17 per cent of independent schools.

To address these disparities, the NCLE has created a national network of lead hub schools across England. Each lead hub school is delivering training to up to seven partner schools to improve standards of language teaching and learning across the country. 

The Language Hub programme provides support to state-funded schools for all languages and has a specific German Promotion Project led by the Goethe-Institut to address the decline in German entries. The programme also aims to increase access to home, heritage, and community languages, as well as improving the transition between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.