“As this report recognises, the recruitment of modern foreign language teachers has been very challenging in recent years and regularly falls considerably below government targets. This persistent shortfall of teachers has, in some cases, forced schools and colleges to reduce their language offering at GCSE and A-level. Everyone understands the benefits of language learning, both in terms of personal development and providing skills for future careers. It is therefore essential to improve education funding and tackle the recruitment and retention crisis to ensure that all schools and colleges have the resources required to offer a broad curriculum that includes a range of modern foreign languages.
“It is clear that much more needs to be done to support schools and colleges in this endeavour and many of the recommendations in this report are worthy of further consideration. Taking action to boost teacher recruitment and providing targeted government funding to reduce regional cold spots will be particularly helpful in better equipping all schools and colleges to aid language learning going forward.”