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<p>The majority of Heads of Mission have a tour length of three or four years, unless
they are posted to a hardship or conflict post where the tour may be shorter. Around
100 Heads of Mission roles require language skills and are designated “speaker slots”.</p><p>We
offer language training to Heads of Mission where this is required. The FCO Language
Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages
as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills
in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives
us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a
pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis. It is essential that
all our Heads of Mission have the necessary skills, including languages, to do their
jobs. Many of our Heads of Mission will return to Posts where they have existing language
capability, in these cases we will provide top up or refresher training. Our Head
of Mission Appointment Boards take into account language skills as part of the overall
assessment of suitability for a role. In some cases the best candidate may not already
speak the language and for these roles we will provide longer training to reach the
requisite level. We encourage all those who have undergone language training to maintain
their language skills throughout their careers.</p>
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