Language hubs showed “early signs of positive impacts” on partner schools in improving their delivery of language teaching, with the potential to improve pupil confidence, an interim report has found after the government cut funding for the scheme.
Language hubs were first introduced in 2023 as a way to boost up-take of modern foreign languages, particularly among disadvantaged pupils. The scheme received £4.9 million in funding in 2024.
But Schools Week revealed in December last year that the Department for Education planned to remodel the scheme. It was one of a series of Conservative-era programmes cut or scaled back by the Labour government.
The National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE), which ran the hubs, will instead deliver an online platform to support schools, supported by 14 “strategic learning networks”, with £2.2 million less funding.
‘Early signs of positive impacts’
An interim report into the impact of government policies conducted by the Institute for Employment Studies and National Institute for Economic and Social Research to boost languages uptake has found positive impacts of the language hubs.
Data was gathered between April and November 2024, just a month before the government announced it would “reshape” the scheme.
Language hubs involved “lead schools” sharing tools and expertise with partner schools, with material provided by the NCLE.
The report found the hubs were “successful in harnessing the enthusiasm and activity of participating teachers, and early signs of positive impacts for developing pedagogies in schools were identified”.
Although it was “too early to evidence any changes in pupil perception”, findings “indicate how such a model might lead to improvements in pupil confidence in their ability to learn about other cultures and languages which could, in turn, lead to increasing language uptake”, the report said.
The change to the programme “does not necessarily mean that there will be no future progress” as there is a “will to promote language learning” exists within schools, the report added.
Language Educators Online
The DfE said it will deliver a new programme called Language Educators Online with total funding of £2.7 million – compared to the £4.9 million in funding given to language hubs in 2024.
The programme will “be based on a core online CPD platform with additional wraparound support for teachers”, with the aim of a “national reach”.
Fourteen strategic learning networks will be created, each led by an expert teacher.
Through the programme, national priority projects will see schools working together to “break down barriers to key issues within language education”, the DfE said.
A spokesperson said: “We know high quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s outcomes, which is why as a part of our plan for change, we are ensuring more language teachers from all corners of the country can access targeted professional development opportunities.”
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