Latest News

Over the next few months we will be highlighting a selection of LinkedUp resources. This week the focus is on transition. There are currently seven amazing transition projects on the Links resource finder, each one with a project overview and downloadable materials....

The Curriculum Review The Department for Education has announced the review of the primary and secondary National Curriculum in England - and wants to hear YOUR opinions about what is taught in schools. This is a real opportunity to get languages into a stronger...

We need views from our members to inform ALL’s response to the Curriculum Review. We would therefore like to hear your views on the issues raised by the review, so that we can talk to the DfE on your behalf, expressing your concerns, and showing them your ideas...

ESLC is a European Commission research project, providing information about foreign language learning in Europe. It assesses the language proficiency of pupils at the end of secondary education in 14 European countries, and allows researchers to collect extensive...

A group of top UK universities has published guidance advising students to take traditional subjects at A-level, or risk narrowing their choices at higher education level.  It advises students to study at least two subjects from a list of "facilitating...

In Language Matters More and More, the British Academy warns of a serious disparity between the supply of and demand for recommends that UK Vice-Chancellors: • ADOPT a wider definition of ‘internationalisation’, rather than focus simply on recruitment...

Millions of people in England and Wales who work or volunteer with children and vulnerable adults will no longer need criminal record checks, ministers say. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that the aim was to make child worker checks 'more proportional'....

Chers professeurs de français, À l’occasion de la semaine de la francophonie 2011, un regroupement de représentations francophones de Londres, incluant l’Ambassade de Belgique, l’Ambassade de Suisse, l’Ambassade...

ALL has recently established a new Special Interest Group intending to take forward issues relating to the wider group of languages learnt in the UK (those which might be termed Community Languages or World Languages). Our hope is to work with other associations and...

The Commons Select Committee on Education has announced a new inquiry and call for evidence into the English Baccalaureate. The Education Committee is announcing a short inquiry into the English Baccalaureate (E-Bac), and want to hear from individuals about:  the...

Dear colleague There has been a lot of uncertainty about future funding for primary languages. We now know that the existing grant is to be devolved to schools from April. The interesting thing is that in the funding settlement the primary languages grant is...

The Department for Education published the 2010 performance tables for GCSEs, A Levels and equivalent qualifications yesterday. The figures show: the overall number of five GCSE (or iGCSE or equivalent) passes at A* to C including English and mathematics has increased...

The Coalition Government has set out further details of plans to overhaul England's schools system in its Education Bill: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12287022 &...

The results of the latest Language Trends survey of secondary schools show that the number of students choosing to take a language at 14 is still in decline and that the amount of language teaching offered at key stage 3 is also falling. The findings, based on a...

Language teachers increasingly go online, but they still need face to face contact for continuing professional development, according to a survey of Head Teachers and Heads of Language Departments, carried out by the Links into Languages programme.  Language...

Ofsted published 'The changing landscape of languages: an evaluation of language learning 2004/2007' in 2008 - this report follows up achievements since, and examines the current challenges. Some aspects of language provision seen during this survey were better than...

Following the publication of the Schools White Paper 'The Importance of Teaching', the Department for Education have now released an addendum, giving details of how a new English Baccalaureate indicator will be reported in the 2010 School Performance Tables:...

The search is on for the most innovative language learning projects in the UK. If you’re working on an inspirational project with any language other than English, apply now for the prestigious European Language Label, previously known as the European Award for...

ALL has now produced a briefing document for it's members on the White Paper released last week; summarising the main points as we see them in relation to languages, although many of the broader strategic changes set out by the Coalition Government will also have...

A new Europe-wide survey among employers has found that almost 50% of companies with considerable international business identified knowledge of foreign languages as the most important skill for the future. The Eurobarometer report on graduate recruitment shows that...