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Philip Harding-Esch and Pascale Vassie detail new measures
I
n the April-May issue, we explored the
terrible impact of lockdowns on exam
take-up in 'other languages' (as classified
by the Joint Council for Qualifications;
JCQ) – often students' home or
'community' languages. For two years
now, students have been awarded
centre-assessed grades rather than
taking exams, but many candidates
in 'other languages' have been
withdrawn. This is because they
typically study in supplementary
schools (usually Saturday schools)
and enter exams as private
candidates. Many mainstream
schools have therefore felt
unable to take the responsibility
of issuing a grade, as they
have no specialist teachers in
the subject.
This is not a niche concern.
In England alone, there are
well over a million 'bilingual'
students in our schools,
1
3,000-5,000 supplementary
schools, and approximately
30,000 students taking
Valuing the other
qualifications in 'other languages' in a typical
year.
2
This situation should concern us all. Not
only are thousands of young people missing
out on qualifications, but a reduction in
entries results in worse MFL (modern foreign
language) take-up statistics for mainstream
schools, and a smaller pool of qualified
individuals in what are often socially valuable
and strategically important languages.
Addressing the issue
The National Resource Centre for
Supplementary Education (NRCSE) has set
up the Community Languages Examination
Centre (CLEx) in partnership with the Turkish
Language, Culture and Education Consortium,
the British Council/Qatar Foundation
International Arabic Language and Culture
Programme, and Pearson Edexcel. Initially
this will facilitate private entries in GCSEs and
A levels in Turkish, Russian, German and
Arabic, which are offered by Pearson Edexcel.
CLEx was set up to be as accessible as
possible. Fees are kept low to support
students who might have anticipated being
entered for free via their mainstream school.
Assessment is based on a realistic set of
evidence, such as minimum tutor contact
time, mock exams and teachers attending
training and moderation meetings with CLEx
Internal Quality Assurance staff (IQAs).
The centre has been a success: in its first
year it achieved 141 entries (42 A levels; 99
GCSEs). These students probably wouldn't
have received a qualification otherwise. A
certificate-giving ceremony in November was
attended by CIOL Vice-President Baroness
Coussins, Co-Chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages.
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