A landmark study funded by the British Academy on Languages Provision in Further Education has been conducted by colleagues from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work. A report on its findings and recommendations was launched recently in the House of Lords, Westminster.

The report highlights that many FE colleges in the United Kingdom have no languages provision and there is a widespread lack of clear progression pathways.

Ian Collen, Principal Investigator of the study, said: “Our research evidence indicates sustained inequality in language provision over the past twenty years in UK further education. My colleagues and I have met passionate language learners and tutors in the FE sector, but their voices have rarely been heard. There is an urgent need for a forward-looking strategy to rebuild language provision, not only for the UK’s economic benefit but also to enable greater social cohesion and intercultural understanding within and beyond our frontiers.”

To counter worrying trends, the report makes a number of recommendations, including: increase co-operation between colleges and sectors; develop a unifying voice for languages in FE; and improve and expand vocational qualifications in languages.

Joining Ian Collen on the research team were SSESW colleagues Leanne Henderson, Minchen Liu, Aisling O’Boyle and Jennifer Roberts.