I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 6 November 2025 in response to Question 86285.

Almost 100 valid Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) qualifications in Russian are currently held at C1 level or above by FCDO staff, and almost 75 in Mandarin. Exam passes are valid for five years. Some staff may concurrently hold a valid C1 and C2 pass. As previously explained to the Hon. Member, these figures alone do not provide an accurate measure of FCDO staff language capabilities as staff may hold a non-FCDO language qualification or be a native speaker.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was provided on 6 November in response to Question 86285.

Around 70 members of staff of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently have valid exam passes in Russian at C1 level or above. Exam passes are valid for five years.

The requested data can be found in the tables below.

Total number of pupils entering GCSE French, German, and Russian
Coverage: England (all schools)
Academic years: 2018/19 to 2022/23

(1) All schools include state-funded schools, independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision. Alternative provision includes academy and free school alternative provision

(2) Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once. In 2021/22, with the return of the exam series, first entry rules were reintroduced for discounting. Further information can be found in the secondary accountability guidance. For more on the discounting methodology read the Discounting and Early Entry Guidance

(3) Total number of entries include pupils who were absent, whose results are pending and results which are ungraded or unclassified

(4) Figures include attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years where discounting has been applied

(5) In 2017, new reformed GCSEs (which use the 9-1 grade scale) were introduced into secondary school performance tables in a phased approach. Unreformed subjects continued to be graded using the A* to G system. From 2020 onwards all GCSEs are now reformed and use the 9-1 grading scale

(6) For pupils at the end of KS4 in 2022/23, where pupils achieved qualifications in subjects between January 2020 and August 2021, we will not use results from these qualifications and these results are shown as covid impacted. The entries into the qualifications are still counted.

Total number of pupils entering A level French, German, and Russian
Coverage: England
Academic years: 2018/19 to 2022/23

(1) Includes students triggered for inclusion in performance tables who completed A levels during 16-18 study, after discounting of exams. Includes pending awards

(2) A change to the trigger rules was introduced in 2020/21 such that students were no longer automatically reported after two years in 16-18 study. The introduction caused a fall in cohort size, particular within the vocational and technical cohorts. A full impact analysis can be found in the methodology document (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results).

We have deemed language specialist to be a service person holding an in date formal MOD language assessment of Level 2 and above (even if not actively using the language day to day), and any civil servant (Burnham Lecturer) or military person employed in teaching languages to defence personnel on an ongoing permanent basis or supporting operations.

Detailed historical data on those personnel ‘in date’ before 2018 is unavailable, we only know the number of exams that were passed in the respective years going back to 2012. We have not included those for the purposes of this answer. The information available is in the following table:

The FCDO only holds figures for staff who have completed FCDO-certified training at C1/C2 levels: this does not include our Country-Based Staff, many of whom are multilingual. 55 members of staff currently have valid exam passes in Russian at C1, including 10 at C2. Seven members of staff have a valid C1 exam pass in Ukrainian. Exam passes are valid for five years.

Awarding organisations look carefully at their specifications and exam questions each year to manage any negative impacts on students. Awarding organisations are regulated by Ofqual, the office of qualifications and examinations regulation. Discussion about sensitivities in exam specifications is a matter for Ofqual. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the hon. Member for Twickenham and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Oak National Academy has enabled users to auto-translate its 10,000 lessons into a variety of languages, including Ukrainian and Russian. This is enabled through automatic translations services offered by major internet browsers, as well as through the integration of online translation tools into its lesson resources.

As an automated online service, while 100% accuracy cannot be guaranteed, these tools are of high quality and high accuracy. The service is designed as a rapid, temporary measure to support families fleeing the war with access to educational content, helping their transition to some routine and stability within the safety of the UK.

As part of its standard working practice, Oak National Academy responds to user feedback (including from teachers and parents as well as pupils) to ensure content remains high-quality and any questions are addressed as soon as possible.

The government understands the importance of all languages for the UK’s economic and diplomatic interests, as well as the many personal and social benefits learning another language can bring. This is why the study of languages is a statutory part of the national curriculum for pupils in key stages 2 and 3.

French, Spanish and German remain the most popular languages for pupils to study at school. The government provides resources and professional development for teachers in these languages through the Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Hub programme, run by the National Centre for Excellence in Language Pedagogy.

An increasing number of pupils now choose to study Mandarin, and the government supports many of these pupils through the £12 million Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP). The MEP is the department’s flagship programme for the study of Mandarin, with the aim of providing a pipeline of fluent Mandarin speakers to meet the UK’s future economic and diplomatic needs. We are currently considering what steps might be taken to provide greater support for the study of other languages, including Arabic and Urdu.

Schools are free to offer any language which they feel best meets the needs of their pupils and the wider community. GCSEs and A levels are available in Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, Turkish and Urdu. All these languages count towards the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) school performance measure, ensuring that most young people study a core of academic subjects at GCSE. The provision of these qualifications is ultimately a decision for awarding organisations. However, the department is supportive of ongoing opportunities to study these languages, signifying Britain's role as an outward-facing, vibrant country, enriched by the diversity of its people.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and unique circumstances in 2021, the government made a grant available to support exam centres to meet costs associated with the additional demands of assessment for private candidates, including those taking community and heritage languages. The claims window opened on 29 November 2021 and closed on 10 January 2022. The department subsequently carried out quality assurance checks on the evidence provided by centres to ensure the accuracy of claims and payment allocations. The assurance checks that needed to be carried out always meant that payments would be made to centres at the end of the 2021/22 financial year. Centres that supplied the evidence required in the claims were due to be paid on 31 March 2022. This included a payment to the Community Language Examination Centre.

The grant was only available for teacher assessed grades produced in summer 2021, not to any other assessment period, due to the unique circumstances in 2021. It has helped centres to meet costs and will not have led to any exam entry reductions.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The number of active staff in OFSI since Financial Year 2016-2017 can be found in the table below:

Where the number of individuals covered is less than five, HMG considers that to provide an exact figure would constitute the disclosure of personal data. HMT is therefore unable to provide a breakdown of full time vs. part time staff.

In light of recent developments in Ukraine, the number of staff has since increased. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness.

HM Treasury does not hold data regarding the number of staff in the OFSI who speak (a) Russian and (b) Ukrainian.

10,000 lessons can now be auto-translated into Ukrainian, Russian, and other languages through remote education resource Oak National Academy, serving millions of children through the COVID-19 pandemic. This will help schools who support many pupils for whom English is a second language.

The FCDO strongly values the work of the BBC World Service and its independent and impartial broadcasting. FCDO officials are working closely with the BBC to consider how best to support BBC services to the Russian people.

Almost 60 members of staff of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office currently have valid exam passes in Russian at C1 level. Exam passes are valid for five years. In December 2017, that figure was below 50. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not routinely collect data on language skills below C1 level.

The table below shows a count of British national Service personnel recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) MI System as holding a Russian language competence during their service in each of the last five years. This information was extracted from the JPA MI System on 2 February 2022.

Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. Totals have been rounded independently and may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.

Almost 60 FCDO staff members have passed Russian examinations at C1 (operational) level in the last five years, mostly Diplomatic Service staff on postings to Russian-speaking countries. It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments not to comment on intelligence matters.

Language skills are critical to the FCO's operation. FCO officers undertake full-time language training in preparation for roles overseas which require them to speak the local language (known as speaker slots). The FCO's full-time language training programme is delivered in up to 85 languages and takes officers to C1 (operational) level in the required language. Their proficiency level is assessed by an externally validated exam at the end of their training programme.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Russian Language Programme was launched in 2014 following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. The Programme was funded from the Cross-Government Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF). In April 2016 we launched a new four year strategic communications and media development programme, called the Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme, designed to protect national security by countering disinformation directed at the UK and its Allies from Russia. The former Russian Language Programme was amalgamated into this. Documents and correspondence about projects within the Programme will not be published, as this information could then be used actively to attempt to disrupt and undermine the Programme's effectiveness.

The FCO's Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme is designed to protect national security by countering disinformation directed at the UK and its Allies from Russia. Russia persistently uses disinformation to target its perceived enemies. An example was the Russian disinformation campaign that followed the attack in Salisbury, which was intended to distract from Russian culpability. Information about individual projects within the Programme will not be published, as this information could then be used to actively attempt to disrupt and undermine the Programme's effectiveness.