This page is concerned with our activities and with current policy-related announcements concerning languages. For more general updates on languages please access one of our partners' excellent websites.
|
|
The Government underlines the importance of Primary Languages Thursday 26 August |
 |
 |
 |
|
Featured News
|
|
Tuesday, 31 August 2010 00:00 |
|
Despite the decision not to proceed with the new primary curriculum which would have included languages as statutory in Key Stage 2, the new Government has confirmed its commitment to the importance of primary languages. It believes that languages are important for the social and economic future of the country and that they help young people to understand the world and its cultures. Existing funding for primary languages continues until 2011 and is intended in particular to support workforce development. What happens after that will depend on the outcomes of the spending review and also on the review of the National Curriculum due to begin this autumn.
To read the Government statement in full click here |
|
|
Disappointing fall in GCSE languages entries. French and German down but Spanish up. |
|
|
|
|
Other News
|
|
Tuesday, 24 August 2010 09:30 |
|
Despite last year’s stabilization, there has been a further small decline in languages take up at GCSE this year.
Although nothing like as dramatic as the falls suggested in the press, there has been an overall decline in the number of languages awards in the UK - from 362338 to 348190 (just over 14000, mainly in French and German) The figures for England are almost identical (see table below). As last year there has also been a decline in the total number of subject entries, which are down by nearly 95,000 (1.8%) . This compares with a decrease in languages of 3.9% in both the UK and in England. So, although the decline is not as sharp as the headline figures suggest, there has been a measurable fall in languages entries. It remains to be seen whether this corresponds to any increase in alternative qualifications such as Asset or NVQ.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
PRIMARY LANGUAGES UPSKILLING |
|
|
|
|
NLS News
|
|
Friday, 28 May 2010 00:00 |
|
Following the successful launch of the Languages Upskilling Specification last autumn 9 regional briefings sessions were held in Links Centres for Local Authorities and potential training providers in Higher and Adult Education. The response was extremely positive and in many parts of the country partnerships are being established in order to develop a programme of support. To assist this process CILT is organising four follow up events at which possible approaches and link to the Key Stage 2 Framework will be discussed. For further details contact CILT:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
|
A level results show small decline – Spanish up but French, German and Chinese down |
|
|
|
|
Other News
|
|
Thursday, 19 August 2010 10:00 |
|
The provisional results for 2010 were published today. The overall figure for languages shows a small decline, but with some significant variations between languages.
In England there were 31685 awards in total (compared to 32547 in 2009 – a difference of 856) Underlying these figures however there is a continuing (but lower) drop in German (- 195) and French (-372) and a further rise in Spanish (+298). Contrary to expectations, however, the numbers achieving a grade in “Other Languages” which have increased steadily in recent years – last year for example they were up by 554 or 7.7% - have fallen sharply (by 7.6%) Particularly striking has been a fall in the numbers taking Chinese, down from 3151 to 2349 (UK figures). The reasons for this turnaround are not yet clear and it remains to be seen whether there is any compensating increase in other qualifications such as Asset languages which are not recorded here.
The picture at AS remains relatively stable with a fall of just over 100 (out of over 40,000). French and German numbers fell while Spanish and in this case also Other Languages grew.
Performance at A level continues to improve overall. In French for example 39.1% of candidates were awarded A* or A (compared with 38.6% gaining A last year when A* was not available. |
|
The New Government and Languages |
|
|
|
|
Other News
|
|
Thursday, 13 May 2010 00:00 |
|
The new government took office on May 11 and on May 12 the Department for Education was formed, to replace the DCSF. Both Parties in the coalition have stated their support for languages and language learning. However no assumptions about the future should be made as we do not yet know for certain what position languages have in their education priorities, nor the timetable for any future changes to the National Curriculum, All that can be said is that,
- The existing national curriculum remains in place and languages are compulsory in KS3 and an entitlement in KS4
- The KS3 and KS2 frameworks along with other existing guidance are still in place and still available for teachers to use to support classroom teaching.
- The primary entitlement in KS2 remains current Departmental policy
For further guidance please contact us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 3 |
