Cutting language courses at universities and schools dangers weakening social movement and employment abilities, former education secretaries and specialists in the UK have warned.More than 70 languages academics were among 500 personnel at the University of Exeter to be informed recently they were at danger of redundancy as it seeks to cut 150 full-time posts, predominantly in the humanities. The statement followed the proposition by the University of Nottingham to become the first Russell Group university to provide no language degrees.The cuts come versus a background of increasingly hard university finances and years of falling GCSE and A-level entries, which have actually exacerbated inequalities. Languages are now obligatory for all students at GCSE in only 22%of state secondaries, compared with 41 %of independent schools, according to this year’s Language Trends survey.Former education ministers and other experts stated the downgrading of languages at elite universities could further harm the life opportunities of pupils, in specific those from working-class backgrounds.David Blunkett, the Labour education secretary from 1997 to 2001, stated:”Rather of the current propensity to choose retrenchment as the only method of stabilizing the books, we need
universities to think really creatively. [Cutting courses] prevents you from a joined-up method to knowing. If you haven’t got a language faculty any longer in the university, it can’t relate to tech and engineering, and digital, and all the other possibilities that now exist.”David Blunkett described cutting language degrees as’a missed out on opportunity ‘. Picture: Roger Harris Ditching language degrees was for that reason”a missed out on opportunity”to enhance social movement, he added,”
however it needs to be related to the revitalisation of languages in the school system, so you have actually got a pipeline”. Estelle Morris, his follower, said: “It’s a dreadful message– these are our country’s leading universities. I want to believe that they felt they had a role to play in the option, not make it even worse.
If Nottingham or anywhere else closes down a contemporary foreign language degree, middle-class children may go in other places. But working-class children will not.”They will be most likely to choose a subject available to them in your area. And then all the abilities and job opportunities modern foreign languages provide head out of the window since those students have not taken a degree.
“The warnings come as Guardian data analysis suggests that language degrees could make it possible for students from poorer backgrounds to enter the most selective universities more easily, since there is less competitors for places and grades needed can be substantially lower.Latest figures reveal that at the University of Oxford in 2025 there were simply under 17 applicants per offer to study economics and just under 10 for each deal on computer science, law and mathematics. On the other hand, around half of candidates for languages were provided a place.
Similarly at the University of Cambridge, more than half of applicants for contemporary and medieval language courses got a location, compared to 14% of candidates for chemical engineering and 13%of those for mental sciences.Comparison of Ucas entry requirements by the Guardian shows that needed A-level grades at the most elite universities are on typical 2 to 3 grades lower for single honours language degrees than other popular topics. Whereas mean entry requirements at Russell Group, Bath and St Andrews universities are A * AA for maths
and economics, and AAA for law, they are ABB for French, German or Spanish degrees.At some universities the grade difference is four grades: at University College London and Bristol, for example, you need A * A * A for mathematics, however ABB for languages. For combined degrees the necessary language grade at A-level is also usually at least one lower than the 2 or 3 other A-levels studied.Lee Elliot Major, teacher of social movement at University of Exeter, said:”Schools need to acknowledge that languages are an effective pipeline for social movement. If state schools want to improve the life chances of all their students, they must be actively promoting language study.skip past newsletter promotionFree newsletter|Every weekday Sign up to First Edition Our early morning e-mail breaks down the crucial stories of the day, informing you what’s taking place and why it matters after newsletter promo “GCSEs and A-levels in languages are a concealed passport to elite universities, a possible social mobility pathway that could change lots of students ‘lives.”More than 70 languages academics at the University of Exeter have been informed they are
at risk of redundancy. Picture: geogphotos/Alamy Jo Johnson, the former Conservative universities minister, said”trainee option is not formed in a vacuum”, including:”If pupils have bad access to language teaching at school,
fear extreme grading at A-level
, experience weak professions suggestions, lose out on Erasmus-style movement and have couple of local HE alternatives, then low need partly reflects system failure instead of settled student choice.” The former school requirements minister Catherine McKinnell said: “It is so important for youths from across the nation to have the
opportunity to study a language”that”offers rich transferable abilities for life that need to not be the maintain of the more wealthy”. A Department for Education representative stated every child wishing to discover a language ought to be able to.”That is why we are supporting the next generation of language teachers with tax-free financial rewards to train in essential subjects including French, German and Spanish.
“Universities are self-governing and make their own options about courses– but our decision to increase tuition charge caps will shore up their financial resources, allowing them to continue providing a breadth naturally, including languages. “