Universities UK response to HEPI report on the drop in demand for language learning

Responding to the report ‘A Language Crisis?’ from the Higher Education Policy Institute, which highlights a “growing crisis in language learning” in the UK,  Vivienne Stern - Director of Universities UK International - said: 

“This report adds to previous evidence of declining student numbers in some humanities subjects and particularly in languages. With the government yet to commit to either continued access to Erasmus+ or an alternative fully-funded national scheme after Brexit, there could be further reductions in the number of students enrolling onto modern language courses. 

“In our Solving Future Skills Challenges report Universities UK noted that demand for higher level skills is increasing across a range of levels and subjects, and with an overall shortage of graduates, a strong base of language skills is required not only to meet the needs of employers and our economy, but for the success of our culture and society.

“Along with partners including the British Academy, we believe there is a need for a national languages strategy and would welcome the opportunity to work with government on what this could involve.”