Policy changes and lower funding have created a huge skills gap in schools, threatening university departments with closure
Rebecca Ratcliffe - Wed 11 Sep 2013 11.37 BST - First published on Wed 11 Sep 2013 11.37 BST
There is a shortage of primary language teachers, and curriculum changes for the sector have been made without adequate guidance. Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Britain's foreign languages skills are in crisis. During the past month alone, ministers, university representatives, exam chiefs and industry bodies have each voiced their concern as entries to degree and A-level modern foreign language courses plummeted. So few young people are learning languages that in 10 years' time as many as 40% of university language departments are likely to close. Where did it all go wrong for UK language teaching?
The watershed moment came in 2004, when the government decided to make languages optional at GCSE, according to Shirley Lawes, subject leader for PGCE languages at the Institute of Education in London. "At the time, the argument put forward was that if languages were taught in primary schools then people would automatically want to carry on with them post-14."