The Department for Education is to launch a £14.9 million three-year programme aimed at boosting the number of students taking languages like French, German and Spanish at GCSE and A level.
It is inviting bids from organisations to work with up to 25 schools that are “leaders” in language teaching to form a new ”Centre of Excellence”, which will work with other schools to improve standards.
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.
And the programme will also focus on raising the profile of German in schools, with a £400,000 project to increase the number of German teachers and “champion” the language as a subject.
The pledge to create a network of languages hubs was made in this year’s Schools White Paper.
The DfE said that the pledge 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 English Baccalaureate 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.
Increasing languages entries at GCSE and A level
Bids for the new contract will open today (Monday 14 November), with the winner announced early in 2023.
The DfE says that the overseer of the programme could be a trust, university, business or other type of institution.
Speaking about the plans, schools minister Nick Gibb said: “In an increasingly globalised economy, it has never been more important for our pupils to be taught modern foreign languages.
“There is mounting evidence which shows the economic benefits of learning an additional language.
“This programme will give teachers the rigorous training and knowledge they need to support pupils in learning some of the most prominent global languages such as French, German and Spanish.”
The existing nine language hub schools may be recruited to take part in the new initiative, the DfE said.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, warned earlier this year that subjects like German may become too expensive for schools to teach, amid falling GCSE entries and budget pressures.
Mr Barton said that small-entry subjects may become the “preserve” of those who can afford private schools and clubs.
