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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