April 2017
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Bringing together policymakers and stakeholders, this seminar focused on practical steps and policy options to improve the uptake of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), as well as addressing challenges and opportunities for MFL provision in HE in light of the number of students studying MFL at A-level falling to an all-time low.
With the HEFCE-funded ‘Routes into Languages’ programme coming to the end of its funding cycle, delegates discussed lessons learnt from the programme and what more can be done at school level to increase the number of students opting to study MFL at GCSE, A-level and then apply for an MFL course at university as well as the increasing trend for more ‘ab initio’ provision - universities teaching language courses from scratch rather than requiring prior understanding of basics.
Discussion also assessed the impact of the EU referendum result and potential loss of access to the Erasmus+ programme - as well as best practice examples of innovative ways to improve the financial sustainability of language departments, such as re-designing departments to also provide less formal, part-time options for students studying non-MFL degrees.
