Language learning provision at key stage 2: findings from the 2007 survey

Karen Whitby, Pauline Wade and Sandie Schagen

In the second year of a three-year study for the DCFS, the NFER surveyed a representative sample of primary schools to assess:

• the nature and extent of language learning provision at Key Stage 2 (KS2) in schools in England, and
• the progress towards the target set in the National Languages Strategy that all children should have an entitlement to language learning in class time in KS2 by 2010.

A full report on all three years of the survey will be published in spring 2009.

Key findings

Overall, the evidence from the 2007 survey shows a number of positive developments in the progress being made by primary schools in implementing the National Languages Strategy:

• The survey suggests that 84 per cent of schools are offering pupils in KS2 the opportunity to learn a language within class time - a rise of 14 percentage points from 2006;
• The findings also indicate that 54 per cent of schools are fully meeting the entitlement for all year groups - a rise of 20 percentage points from 2006;
• 86 per cent of schools are confident that current arrangements for language teaching at KS2 are sustainable into the future - a rise of eight percentage points from 2006.
  

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Download 2006 research brief from DCSF website
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Download 2007 research brief from DCSF website
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