Routes into Languages in the
South West

8 October 2007

A further four consortia are to be funded to increase the take up of languages in the English regions. New regional consortia for Yorkshire and the Humber, the South West, the East Midlands and the East of England have been announced by the Routes into Languages steering group.

Funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was released after the Dearing Languages Review was published in March 2007, recommending that the original project should be extended across England. The programme is co-ordinated by a team based at the University of Southampton.

Professor Michael Kelly, Director of Routes into Languages, comments:
“We are delighted that the DCSF has enabled us to fund the additional consortia. Soon we expect that every government region in England will have a group of universities, colleges and schools working together to bring language learning to young people and inspire them to engage with today’s globalised world. These are exciting times to be learning languages and we believe there will be great benefits for the career options of our young people.”

The funding for the three-year regional consortia comes through Routes into Languages, which has attracted £3.5 million from the DCSF in addition to the earlier £4.5 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Funds are available for the first year of the consortia and it is hoped that two further years’ funding will be confirmed in the Comprehensive Spending review.

Routes into Languages was established in partnership with the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, with the University Council of Modern Languages, and CILT, the National Centre for Languages. The Routes into Languages programme is coordinated by a team at the University of Southampton, within the Subject Centre, directed by Professor Michael Kelly.

The regional consortia will be based in the East Midlands, led by Nottingham Trent University; in the Eastern region, led by Anglia Ruskin University; in the South West, led by the University of the West of England; and in Yorkshire and the Humber, led by Hull University. All consortia work with key partners at other universities and use existing networks in language learning across the regions to maximise impact and benefit from prior knowledge.

Visit the Routes Into Languages website for more information.

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