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1130223

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address regional inequalities in the take-up of modern foreign languages at GCSE and A-level.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL16084
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The department has several measures in place which aim to help reduce regional variation in the uptake of languages at GCSE and A level. In our £4.8 million Modern Foreign Language (MFL) Pedagogy pilot programme, one of the nine lead schools is in an Opportunity Area and another is in the Opportunity North East area. The department also launched a pilot project in MFL undergraduate mentoring for secondary school pupils. This project targets areas of high disadvantage to extend access to languages for all pupils and focuses on areas of low uptake.</p><p>Our new international school exchange programme is aimed at young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and areas. The department is also piloting a financial incentive to incentivise retention of MFL teachers in 25 local authorities that are most in need.</p><p>The proportion of pupils taking a language at GCSE declined after study of the subject was made non-compulsory at key stage 4 in 2004. 79% of pupils aged 15 in all schools took a language GCSE in 2000, but this had dropped to 43% of pupils at the end of key stage 4 in 2010. We have introduced the English Baccalaureate performance measure to halt this decline. Since 2010, the percentage of pupils in state-funded schools taking a language GCSE has increased from 40% in 2010 to 46% in 2018. The reformed national curriculum now makes it compulsory for pupils in maintained schools to be taught a foreign language in key stage 2.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 19/06/2019 14:56:09 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1129510

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the level of difficulty in examinations and severe grading on the take-up of modern languages at GCSE and A-level.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
	uin	HL15995
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Ofqual is the regulator of qualifications, examinations and assessments in England. Ofqual is conducting a comprehensive review of grading standards in GCSE French, German and Spanish to see if there is a compelling case for an adjustment to grading standards in these subjects. Ofqual’s review will consider statistical evidence, contextual data including trends in the numbers taking these subjects, and the quality of students’ work through looking at how GCSE grades relate to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Ofqual is also gathering the views of subject experts and other stakeholders. Ofqual is due to report on this work in the autumn.</p><p>Ofqual has examined this issue in relation to grading standards in A level French, German and Spanish (and A level biology, chemistry and physics). Ofqual considered a significant body of evidence – published in 2018 in the form of 2 technical reports – and determined that there was not a compelling case to adjust grading standards in these qualifications. This can be found here and as attached:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inter-subject-comparability" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inter-subject-comparability</a>.</p> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 18/06/2019 13:18:10 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton attachment 1 file name HL15995_Inter-subject_comparability_technical_report_science.pdf title HL15995_report
	tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

917636

	registered interest
	date	05/06/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage more students to study modern foreign languages at GCSE and A Level.
	tabling member constituency	Dartford
	tabling member printed	Gareth Johnson
	uin	150009
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2018 answer text <p>Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) are compulsory in maintained schools at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. In Key Stage 4, MFL is an essential part of the English Baccalaureate combination of subjects. The Government will also build expert hubs for languages to share best teaching practice among schools and improve access to high-quality MFL teaching.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also ensuring that all schools have the resources needed to increase the take-up of MFL by their students. As a result, several measures have been put in place to encourage more MFL specialists into Initial Teacher Training. These include targeted marketing campaigns, supporting potential MFL Initial Teacher Training applicants to increase the proportion of successful applications and offering financial incentives, such as scholarships and tax-free bursaries worth up to £26,000, for MFL trainee teachers. Seed funding will also be provided to universities so that MFL undergraduates can opt in to complete Qualified Teacher Status alongside their degree. The Teacher Subject Specialism Training initiative aims to attract existing teachers into MFL by improving current teachers’ MFL skills and helping returning teachers and career changers to enter MFL teaching.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 13/06/2018 16:43:06 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	3970 label Biography information for Gareth Johnson

637074

	registered interest
	date	15/11/2016
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the uptake of modern foreign language qualifications.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	52918
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2016 answer text <p>The Government is committed to increasing the proportion of the population gaining language qualifications. As a result of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), the number of students studying a language at GCSE has increased from 40% in 2010 to 49% in 2016. In August we confirmed that EBacc entry would become a headline measure in school performance tables from this year, alongside EBacc achievement. This will encourage schools to enter more pupils for the EBacc and for languages in future, which should increase the pool of potential people studying languages at A level and beyond.</p><p> </p><p>The Teaching Schools Council’s report on its review of modern languages teaching practice in secondary schools is being published on 18 November at <a href="http://tscouncil.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://tscouncil.org.uk/</a>. The review’s aim is to provide thought-provoking, practical advice to teachers to improve their pedagogy, with the aspiration that this will lead to pupils getting greater enjoyment and making more progress in languages, so that greater numbers choose to study languages beyond Key Stage 3.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 21/11/2016 11:27:44 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

524694

	registered interest
	date	13/06/2016
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many foreign languages have been available at (a) GCSE and (b) A-Level in each of the last 10 years; and how many such languages will be available at both levels of examination in each of the next three academic years.
	tabling member constituency	Bethnal Green and Bow
	tabling member printed	Rushanara Ali
	uin	40316
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2016 answer text <p>Full historical data about all qualifications (including GCSEs and A levels in modern foreign languages) and the respective dates when they were available to pupils across England are available at <a href="http://www.education.gov.uk/section96/download.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.education.gov.uk/section96/download.shtml</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) maintains a register of current, withdrawn and expired regulated qualifications and their operational start and end dates. The register includes qualifications available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is available at <a href="http://register.ofqual.gov.uk/" target="_blank">http://register.ofqual.gov.uk/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>19 modern foreign languages are available to students starting courses in September 2016. These are: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Modern Greek, Gujarati, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Panjabi, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu. Classical languages - classical Greek, Latin and Biblical Hebrew - are also available.</p><p> </p><p>We expect all of these, except Dutch, to continue to be available for students starting courses in September 2017 and September 2018.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 21/06/2016 12:40:27 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4138 label Biography information for Rushanara Ali

390252

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were entered into (a) GCSE and (b) A-levels in (i) Turkish, (ii) modern Greek, (iii) Spanish, (iv) French and (v) German in the last five academic years.
	tabling member constituency	Enfield North
	tabling member printed	Joan Ryan
	uin	7418
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2015 answer text <p>The requested information is provided in the table below. The information for Spanish, French and German is published in the ‘GCSE and equivalent results in England’[1] statistical first releases (SFRs) and the A level and other level 3 equivalents SFR[2] for the years[3] required:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p> </p><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td colspan="5"><p><strong>GCSE entries in selected modern foreign languages</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Turkish</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Modern Greek</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Spanish</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>French</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>German</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>1,116</p></td><td><p>357</p></td><td><p>58,230</p></td><td><p>160,598</p></td><td><p>65,822</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>1,207</p></td><td><p>339</p></td><td><p>58,681</p></td><td><p>141,749</p></td><td><p>58,299</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>1,277</p></td><td><p>308</p></td><td><p>63,345</p></td><td><p>135,547</p></td><td><p>54,793</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>1,326</p></td><td><p>366</p></td><td><p>82,733</p></td><td><p>161,821</p></td><td><p>60,320</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>1,535</p></td><td><p>466</p></td><td><p>87,554</p></td><td><p>160,953</p></td><td><p>58,521</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="6"><p>Source: Key Stage 4 attainment data</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p> </p><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td colspan="5"><p><strong>A-levels entries in selected modern foreign languages</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Turkish</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Modern Greek</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Spanish</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>French</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>German</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>308</p></td><td><p>90</p></td><td><p>6,564</p></td><td><p>12,324</p></td><td><p>5,055</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>326</p></td><td><p>69</p></td><td><p>6,398</p></td><td><p>11,490</p></td><td><p>4,554</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>342</p></td><td><p>71</p></td><td><p>6,197</p></td><td><p>10,871</p></td><td><p>4,208</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>393</p></td><td><p>77</p></td><td><p>6,516</p></td><td><p>9,878</p></td><td><p>3,774</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>407</p></td><td><p>98</p></td><td><p>6,617</p></td><td><p>9,078</p></td><td><p>3,716</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="6"><p>Source: Key Stage 5 attainment data</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4</a></p><p>[2] <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-attainment-at-19-years" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-attainment-at-19-years</a></p><p>[3] Data for all years is final.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 23/07/2015 09:59:42 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	166 label Biography information for Joan Ryan

389511

	registered interest
	date	13/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 842, with which organisations she has met in connection with ensuring that awarding organisations are liaising effectively with Ofqual; and what further steps her Department has taken to safeguard the future of modern languages at GCSE and A-level in subjects (a) Turkish, (b) Greek, (c) Gujarati, (d) Modern Hebrew, (e) Panjabi, (f) Polish, (g) Bengali and (h) other community languages.
	tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
	tabling member printed	Mr David Burrowes
	uin	6877
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State and I have held meetings with diplomats and officials who have made representations to the department.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 6876 question first answered 21/07/2015 14:53:30 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1518 label Biography information for Mr David Burrowes

389512

	registered interest
	date	13/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 842, what the timescale is, and what methodology is being used for, the consultation on the future of modern languages teaching.
	tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
	tabling member printed	Mr David Burrowes
	uin	6876
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Secretary of State and I have held meetings with diplomats and officials who have made representations to the department.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 6877 question first answered 21/07/2015 14:53:29 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1518 label Biography information for Mr David Burrowes

389809

	registered interest
	date	14/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 842, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) the availability at GCSE and A-level of (i) Turkish, (ii) Greek, (iii) Gujarati, (iv) Modern Hebrew, (v) Punjabi, (vi) Polish, (vii) Bengali and (viii) other community languages and (b) effective liaison between awarding organisations and Ofqual on the provision of GCSEs and A-levels in those languages.
	tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
	tabling member printed	Mr David Burrowes
	uin	7092
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education is in discussion with awarding organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including those languages listed in the question. We are committed to securing the future of community language qualifications. I will make a further announcement in due course, explaining our proposed approach.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 20/07/2015 16:19:18 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1518 label Biography information for Mr David Burrowes

348849

	registered interest
	date	08/06/2015
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the written answer by Lord Nash on 4 June (HL94), when they expect Ofqual's work with awarding organisations on the future of the relevant community languages to be completed and a decision to be taken on whether to launch a consultation.
	tabling member printed	Lord Lexden
	uin	HL328
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education, Ofqual and awarding organisations continue to consider and discuss potential approaches to securing these qualifications. The government is keen to ensure reformed qualifications in community languages will be available for first teaching in 2017. If no course of action can be agreed by Ofqual and awarding organisations the department will consult more widely on potential approaches and seek to ensure this timeline is adhered to.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 18/06/2015 15:13:55 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
	tabling member	4202 label Biography information for Lord Lexden

348129

	registered interest
	date	02/06/2015
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the future of A-levels and GCSEs for (a) Turkish, (b) Greek, (c) Gujarati, (d) Modern Hebrew, (e) Panjabi, (f) Polish, (g) Bengali and (h) other community languages; and if she will outline steps that will be taken in pursuit of that policy.
	tabling member constituency	Enfield, Southgate
	tabling member printed	Mr David Burrowes
	uin	842
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education is currently considering what further support and encouragement can be provided to awarding organisations to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The government has been clear that it wants to see all pupils provided with the opportunity to take a core set of academic subjects, including modern foreign languages. The number of pupils entering for a modern language GCSE has increased by 20% since 2010 due to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. There are considerable benefits to learning a second language and the government is keen to see the range of languages at GCSE and A level preserved. To this end, the Secretary of State wrote to exam boards during the pre-election period in April to express her concern about their decision to stop awarding qualifications in some languages. She asked awarding organisations to work with Ofqual on the future of these qualifications and committed, if there is no further action, to launching a consultation on how best to secure the future of these qualifications.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 10/06/2015 11:21:22 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1518 label Biography information for Mr David Burrowes

64631

	registered interest
	date	30/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Languages: Qualifications
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many students take GCSEs and A-levels in Mandarin Chinese; and whether they plan to increase that number.
	tabling member printed	The Earl of Courtown
	uin	HL714
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2014 answer text <p>It is not possible to identify pupils entered for Mandarin Chinese from the Department's data. However, the Department does hold information on the number of pupils entered for GCSEs and A levels in Chinese which includes Mandarin Chinese and other Chinese subjects.</p><p> </p><p>In 2012/13, 2,346 pupils were entered for GCSE Chinese and 2,665 pupils were entered for A level Chinese. This information is published in the GCSE[1] and A level[2] statistical first releases.</p><p> </p><p>My Rt hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has pledged to increase the number of people learning Mandarin Chinese in the UK. Offering more young people the chance to learn Mandarin will help in our efforts to encourage mobility between the UK and China, and help ensure the long-term success of our economy and society.</p><p> </p><p>A number of organisations are carrying out activities with schools in support of these aims. The British Council is working with Hanban, the Office of Chinese Language Council International, to increase demand for Mandarin teaching in schools in the UK and to address supply, for example by increasing the provision of Chinese Language Assistants. The Institute of Education Confucius Institute is working with HSBC to promote more teaching of Mandarin in primary schools. The Department is taking a close interest in this work and providing encouragement and support at a high level.</p><p> </p><p>[1]<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised</a> (Subject time series table)</p><p>[2]<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-england-2012-to-2013-revised" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-england-2012-to-2013-revised</a> (Table 2)</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 09/07/2014 13:42:51 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
	tabling member	3359 label Biography information for The Earl of Courtown