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While these are fairly common features of IWLP, in other respects the sector tends to be diverse. For example, in most institutions, it includes accredited provision offered to non-specialist language learners; in others, it may only encompass provision that carries no academic credit. Many institutions offer both forms of provision, in some cases separately, in others in an integrated way. Activity may be delivered from within a university language centre or it might be offered alongside degree programmes within a language department. In some institutions, provision for external students (members of the public/lifelong learners) may be incorporated as a part of the IWLP provision. The sector is also diverse in terms of the range of languages offered, with some institutions offering only three or four languages and others offering up to 20, and in terms of the numbers of hours of tuition students receive. Lastly, the motivations for IWLP students to learn languages tend to be diverse, since 'degree attainment' is not one of them. In a survey of around 2,000 students, which I carried out at six large UK universities two years ago, the three principal reasons for studying languages emerged as: 1) enjoyment, 2) to enhance employability and 3) to engage globally. A standardised system given its recent growth and diversity, there has been a growing consensus within IWLP that students' learning outcomes need to be reliably assessed against standardised descriptors, and that this process needs to be properly validated for external recognition. A national scheme for recognising and certifying language attainment is felt to be important so that the criteria we work to can be made more understandable for the learners themselves, for the providers and also for future employers. In consultation with the UCML and with support from the Higher Education Academy (HEA), the AULC began to design such a scheme in 2014, the principal thelinguist.uberflip.com APRIL/MAY 2017 The Linguist 25 FEATURES characteristics of which would be transparency and reliability. At the same time, it would need to be low cost and uncomplicated to administer. Finally, any new scheme would need to run alongside the award of credits and other HE awards by the universities concerned. The UNILANg scheme was formerly launched in 2015-2016 and trialled at three institutions (Bristol, Durham and Manchester) that year. The scheme is run under the auspices of the UNILANg Certification Committee, whose membership comprises seven senior language teaching practitioners drawn from the HE sector. To date, it has been supported financially through the AULC, but in the longer term it is expected that participating institutions will be asked to pay a small supplement to their AULC subscription. Quality assurance The current scheme makes reference to the CEFR. This was published in 2001 to provide a "common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc across Europe". 3 Recognised by the major European language testing agencies, its six reference levels have now become widely accepted as the European standard for grading an individual's language proficiency: A1 and A2 ('basic user'), B1 and B2 ('independent user'), C1 and C2 ('proficient user'). Use of the CEFR within the UK HITTING THE BOOKS Students' hard work will now be recognised by a certificate showing the skills level reached through optional and non-credit-bearing languages modules at university Institution-wide Language Provision enrolments (UCML-AULC survey) Year Number Number of HE institutions reporting 2012-2013 49,637 61 2013-2014 53,971 64 2014-2015 54,975 61 2015-2016 55,354 61 2016-2017 62,455 62 IMAgES © SHUTTERSToCK