Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the shortage of teachers in modern foreign languages on the availability of modern foreign languages at schools.

The 2020/21 academic year saw an increase of more than 5,000 in the full-time equivalent of teachers in state-funded secondary schools in England. This equates to a 2.5% growth on the year before, the largest observed in the last 10 years, and has resulted in the largest qualified teacher workforce since the 2015/16 academic year.

Added to this, one of the department’s top priorities is to ensure that we continue to attract and retain high-quality teachers across all subjects. In October this year, our new digital service, Apply for teacher training, was rolled out. This is a key milestone in the delivery of a more streamlined, user-friendly application route for candidates across the country and the world.

In order to combat shortages in modern foreign languages teachers, the department has increased the languages bursary to £15,000 for the 2022/23 academic year to incentivise candidates to train in modern foreign languages. All modern foreign language trainee teachers on tuition fee-funded Initial Teacher Training routes are also able to apply for a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional student finance is also available depending on individual circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant.

The department has also now launched its early career framework reforms, as part of the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy. These reforms provide a funded entitlement for all early career teachers in England to access high quality professional development at the start of their career.

To support international recruitment across all subjects including modern foreign languages, the department is also piloting a new Support Overseas Teachers acclimatisation service in 2022. It is designed to provide newly recruited overseas trained teachers moving to England with pre-arrival training and support during the first term, to ensure they make a successful transition to teaching in England, with the intention of improving retention.