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<p>There are a number of initiatives in place to promote the teaching of modern languages
in schools in England. The reformed national curriculum makes it compulsory for pupils
in maintained schools to be taught a foreign language in key stage 2 and 3, and academies
are required by their funding agents to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum. The
government has introduced the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure, which
includes languages and the proportion of GCSE entries from pupils in state-funded
schools in a modern foreign language (MFL) has increased from 40% in 2010 to 46% in
2018.</p><p>Recruiting MFL teachers is a priority. Generous financial incentives are
offered for languages teaching, including scholarships in modern foreign languages
worth £28,000, and tax-free bursaries, typically worth up to £26,000. We are also
working in partnership with Spain’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training
to deliver Spain’s Visiting Teachers programme. This will provide schools with access
to a pool of qualified teachers from Spain who are able to teach MFL. For the 2019/20
academic year, the programme will be open to secondary schools and primary schools.</p><p>The
Teacher Subject Specialism Training programme aims to improve the subject knowledge
of non-specialist teachers and returning teachers in MFL and to increase the number
of hours taught.</p><p>We have also recently launched the new Teacher Recruitment
and Retention Strategy, which will attract new teachers to all subjects, including
MFLs.</p><p>A £4.8 million MFL Pedagogy Pilot commenced in December 2018. It is managed
by the newly appointed MFL Centre for Excellence and is run through 9 school-led hubs,
to improve uptake and attainment in languages at key stages 3 and 4. We have also
launched a pilot project in MFL undergraduate mentoring for secondary school pupils
to drive up participation in the subject, specifically targeting areas of high disadvantage
to extend access to languages for all pupils.</p>
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