Written question asked by Lord Brady of Altrincham (Conservative) on Tuesday, 7 September 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 September 2004. It was answered by Stephen Twigg (Labour) on Monday, 13 September 2004 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, when his Department will introduce the voluntary recognition system for language skills; and which languages will be covered.

Answer: Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when his Department will introduce the voluntary recognition system for language skills; and which languages will be covered. [188042] Mr. Stephen Twigg: Following a limited pilot in 2004/05, the first suite of external qualifications for the voluntary recognition system for language skills--The Languages Ladder--will be nationally available in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Punjabi, Spanish and Urdu in the academic year 2005/06. A wider range of languages will be on offer from 2006/07 and additional languages will be added to the scheme in subsequent years.

Secondary information