Schools offering Mandarin lessons have had their funding cut by a quarter, with flights to China and enrichment trips to Chinese universities for pupils also no longer paid-for.
A Department for Education update this week confirmed schools taking part in the Mandarin Excellence Programme will now receive £15,000 per child, compared to £20,000 previously.
A flagship initiative launched by the Conservative government, pupils got eight hours a week of “intensive” Mandarin lessons, with trips to China and retention payments to stop pupils dropping out.
While the scheme has secured funding to continue this academic year, the amount has fallen from £4.1 million to £2.4 million.
Government said it wanted to ensure “every child gets access to brilliant opportunities… [with the scheme] supporting more than 8,000 pupils to continue to benefit from high quality Mandarin language education”.
Support ‘reshaped’ following evaluation
Seventy-six schools and 20 sixth forms offer the lessons.
But the support was “reshaped” after evaluation evidence, government added, so schools could “more easily timetable” Mandarin lessons alongside other subjects.
From this month, the programme will instead offer six hours a week of teaching.
Funding will also no longer cover flights for all pupils to China, enrichment trips to China town and universities, and retention payments will be reduced. But “financial support” will continue to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds attend a year 9 trip to China.
The programme, run by University College London, will also continue to fund professional development opportunities for teachers and online resources.
The scheme has survived despite several others being axed amid government cuts. A Latin scheme for state pupils had been axed, with funding pulled for computing hubs and scaled back for modern foreign language hubs.
Government said continuing the Mandarin scheme was “part of wider efforts to boost the UK’s capability to manage the risks and opportunities of our relationship with China in the national interest”.
UCL did not want to comment, but said earlier this year the programme has supported more than 16,000 students. More than 4,000 have sat Mandarin GCSEs, with the same number also having visited China.
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