A programme aimed at meeting government targets for students taking languages at GCSE and beyond is to begin recruiting lead schools.
The contract for the new £14.9 million three-year Language Hubs programme has been awarded to University College London (UCL).
Recruitment for 25 lead schools that specialise in languages to support up to 105 partner schools who sign up for the programme will now begin for the rollout in September.
The Department for Education said this would support its ”English Baccalaureate ambition” - championed by schools minister Nick Gibb - for 90 per cent of Year 10 students in state-funded schools to study a combination of core academic subjects, including a language, by 2025.
The lead schools that are selected will work with partner secondary schools by “modelling best practice and evidence-based training for language teachers”.
The pledge to create a network of language hubs was made in this year’s Schools White Paper.
The DfE says the teaching methods promoted will be in line with those set out in Ofqual chair Ian Bauckham’s 2016 Modern Foreign Languages Pedagogy Review.
The department has said that the programme will support its ambition that 90 per cent of Year 10 students in state-funded schools study a combination of the core academic subjects as part of the EBacc by 2025, which includes the requirement that students complete a language.
Currently, the proportion of students entering the EBacc is just 39 per cent in state schools.
Mr Gibb said that the economy “needs people who can communicate across the globe and trade with overseas businesses”.
The long-serving minister said the programme was about “ensuring we have the next generation of young people with the languages needed to compete on the world stage”.
He added: “Our range of Curriculum Hubs - exemplary schools spreading their best practice - have played a huge part in improving the quality of teaching in schools. Language teachers will benefit from rigorous training and knowledge, working with experts, to improve language lessons in both primary and secondary schools, opening up these global opportunities for generations to come.”
Hubs will focus on German
The Language Hubs programme will also be focused on German, with plans in the works to develop the promotion of German language learning and culture, working with trained German specialist teachers to widen participation in the language in both primary and secondary schools.
Today, the DfE has also announced the expansion of its Mandarin Excellence Programme, which began in 2016.
It has said that it will hold a consultation on changes to Chinese A-level subject content, with the intention of making this qualification more appropriate for students without a Chinese-speaking background.
