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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