The Department does not hold data on languages spoken by Teaching Assistants.

The deployment of Teaching Assistants, including any responsibilities for supporting pupils whose first language is not English, is a matter for schools to decide.

The number and proportion of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English in primary, secondary and special schools in England is available at the following links:

For years prior to 2010: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120504203418/http:/education.gov.uk/rsgateway/sc-schoolpupil.shtml

For years from 2010 onwards: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers

These tables contain figures for each local authority individually.

Information is not readily available on the first languages of pupils whose first language is not English. Data for the years requested for local authorities and regions could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

The number and proportion of pupils whose first language is known or believed to be other than English in primary, secondary and special schools in England is available at the following links:

For years prior to 2010: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120504203418/http:/education.gov.uk/rsgateway/sc-schoolpupil.shtml

For years from 2010 onwards: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers

These tables contain figures for each local authority individually.

Information is not readily available on the first languages of pupils whose first language is not English. Data for the years requested for local authorities and regions could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

Under current funding arrangements, local authorities devise funding formulae through which to distribute funding to schools in their localities. One of the factors local authorities can include is an English as an additional language (EAL) factor. EAL funding is determined on the basis of census data which records whether or not a pupil’s first language is English. In 2015-16, a total of £267 million was allocated through this factor to school budgets. This figure does not represent the cost of supporting pupils with EAL; instead, it forms part of the school’s core budget. It is then for school leaders to determine how best to use their whole budget so that all pupils can reach their full potential.

We will introduce a national funding formula from 2017-18 so that funding is fair and matched to need. Our first consultation, which closed on 17 April, proposed that the formula should include an EAL factor. We are reviewing all the responses and will set out the precise detail of the formula in our second consultation, to be published later this year.

The United Kingdom has recognised seven languages under the Council of Europe’s European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Welsh, Gaelic, Irish, Scots, Ulster Scots, Cornish and Manx. Cornish is the only language in England to have this status and since April 2010 the Department for Communities and Local Government has provided £650,000 to Cornwall Council for the development of the Cornish Language.

Government action has resulted in GCSEs and A levels in a range of community languages being continued, to ensure young people can carry on studying a diverse range of foreign languages.

This follows a Government commitment in 2015 to protect a number of language GCSEs and A levels after the exam boards announced that from 2017 they would be withdrawing several courses.

Since then the Government has worked with Ofqual and the exam boards and we have been successful in securing most of the less-taught languages at GCSE and A level for future years. In addition to Chinese, Italian and Russian, the languages now secure are Arabic, Bengali, Biblical Hebrew, Modern Greek, Gujarati, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish and Urdu.

The Department welcomes the survey; in particular its findings on the steps primary schools are taking to improve the quality of language teaching since it became compulsory in maintained primary schools in September 2014. By introducing the EBacc, we have stopped the decline in modern foreign languages seen in the last decade, where 200,000 fewer GCSE students studied a modern language in 2010 than in 2002.

Last year’s results showed 20% more pupils are taking languages at GCSE than in 2010 while A level entries in modern languages have increased by nearly 4% since 2014.

Analysis undertaken by the Centre for the Economics of Education in 2012 indicates that there is no association between the presence of children whose first language is not English and the educational attainment of their native English-speaking peers, after controlling for basic demographic characteristics and the schools these pupils attend.

In our recent consultation on a new national funding formula for schools, we proposed including an EAL factor in the formula. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and will come forward with further proposals in due course.

The Government believes that learning a language is important to the social and economic future of the country and to help children understand the world which they live in. We are committed to the teaching of foreign languages as part of a core academic curriculum. This is why a modern or ancient language is included within the English Baccalaureate performance measure.

The Secretary of State may waive the Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK requirement for British citizenship on the basis of a person’s age, physical or mental condition.

A person will normally be exempted from this requirement if they provide evidence from an appropriate medical practitioner that their condition is so severe that it prevents them from being able to learn English or prepare for or sit an English test or the Life in the UK test. Each application is considered on its own merits.

Information cannot be obtained from UKVI data systems to show how many exemption requests were made and granted. This information could only be obtained from looking at individual records at disproportionate cost.

The Secretary of State may waive the Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK requirement for British citizenship on the basis of a person’s age, physical or mental condition.

A person will normally be exempted from this requirement if they provide evidence from an appropriate medical practitioner that their condition is so severe that it prevents them from being able to learn English or prepare for or sit an English test or the Life in the UK test. Each application is considered on its own merits.

Information cannot be obtained from UKVI data systems to show how many exemption requests were made and granted. This information could only be obtained from looking at individual records at disproportionate cost.

Language analysis assists us in determining whether asylum seekers are of the nationality or national origin they claim. It is one of the tools used by asylum decision makers to help resolve fairly issues of doubtful nationality or national origin and to ensure that those claiming asylum in a false identity are detected quickly. It does not replace the requirement during substantive interview to fully probe and investigate doubted nationality/national origin cases.

Professional linguists have communicated with the Home Office regarding their particular preference for the different models available for language analysis testing. As part of the contract competition undertaken in 2014, language analysis companies provided strong evidence of the quality of the services offered. There are dedicated formal arrangements in place to monitor our suppliers’ compliance with the contract terms.

Language analysis assists us in determining whether asylum seekers are of the nationality or national origin they claim. It is one of the tools used by asylum decision makers to help resolve fairly issues of doubtful nationality or national origin and to ensure that those claiming asylum in a false identity are detected quickly. It does not replace the requirement during substantive interview to fully probe and investigate doubted nationality/national origin cases.

Professional linguists have communicated with the Home Office regarding their particular preference for the different models available for language analysis testing. As part of the contract competition undertaken in 2014, language analysis companies provided strong evidence of the quality of the services offered. There are dedicated formal arrangements in place to monitor our suppliers’ compliance with the contract terms.

The Government has no current plans to revise the existing Equality Act exemptions relating to language analysis testing.

No further nationalities have been added to the Equality Act exemption authorisation since it was introduced in 2013.

A review on language analysis use was undertaken in 2011 and published in 2012.

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257177/language-analysis.pdf).

No further such review is presently planned. However, we do monitor the use of language analysis regularly to ensure it is used as effectively as possible and to identify new trends in nationality swapping.

The Government has no current plans to revise the existing Equality Act exemptions relating to language analysis testing.

No further nationalities have been added to the Equality Act exemption authorisation since it was introduced in 2013.

A review on language analysis use was undertaken in 2011 and published in 2012.

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257177/language-analysis.pdf).

No further such review is presently planned. However, we do monitor the use of language analysis regularly to ensure it is used as effectively as possible and to identify new trends in nationality swapping.