Every year as a language teacher in an inner-London state school, my headteacher was incredibly supportive and set a clear rule: if we could find five teenagers wanting to study a language at A-level, we could afford to run the class.
Like so many teachers across the country, I scrambled to hit that magic number. And in the years when only two or three students were willing, those teenagers watched their language learning journey come to a sudden end with the GCSE exam.
This is the broken promise of our upper secondary education system: we encourage sixteen-year-olds to specialise in the subjects they love, yet if they choose a modern language, there is no guarantee the course will actually run. These students are our "missing linguists", bright teenagers denied a fair opportunity simply because their individual school cannot afford small class sizes.
To find a truly sustainable solution to A-level modern languages, we need to accept that ours is a subject with small numbers. We cannot change this any time soon, so our focus should be on lowering barriers to access for those small numbers. By fixing this lack of access, we can create an incredible experience for the small cohorts that do want to learn.
We believe that some of the answer lies in the Languages For All hub model: local schools collaborate to share A-level teaching, cultural trips, and resources. By pooling students and teachers, schools can achieve vital economies of scale, making small numbers financially viable.
This is nothing new; sixth form consortium models exist already. But modern technology can further improve this approach. Combining in-person classes with online distance learning can bridge geographical divides. With the leadership of Royal Holloway University of London, our first pilot in Hounslow, west London increased the number of sixth forms offering an A-level in a modern foreign language from 4 in 2022 to 13 in 2026, and in 4 of those schools there are fewer than 5 linguists in total.
A byproduct of focusing on improving the experience for a small number of linguists is that uptake increased - from 35 Year 12 A-level linguists in 4 schools in 2022, to 80 and close to 70 in the current Year 12 and Year 13 cohorts. At Westcountry Schools Trust, part of the pilot we ran in the South West region in partnership with the University of Exeter, A level numbers for 2026 more than doubled when it became possible for all 8 sixth forms in the Trust to offer a class. With 40% of the teaching delivered centrally by one teacher, three sixth forms in Devon are now able to guarantee Spanish A level to the small numbers of linguists joining Year 12 next academic year.
This collaborative approach is much more than a logistical fix: It transforms an isolated subject choice into a vibrant social community. By bringing the best linguists in a local area together we make them feel elite and valued. We invite partners like top universities and international employers to lead or join the hub, to celebrate the students and show them exactly where languages can take them.
We encourage every one of our A level linguists to visit their ‘home’ university multiple times, to meet their potential future language professors, and learn about the opportunities that studying a language can unlock in their future careers. We must praise the incredible innovation of institutions like Royal Holloway, University of London, and the University of Exeter. They have piloted this hub model, lending their prestige to show parents and pupils that these language skills are highly sought after.
These students are our "missing linguists", bright teenagers denied a fair opportunity simply because their individual school cannot afford small class sizes.
Ultimately, headteachers and university leaders must recognise they are operating at opposite ends of the same pipeline. We all care about the same young people. If schools fail to solve the access issue, and universities fail to support those schools, the entire system breaks down, and the UK will not have the professionals it desperately needs for national security, diplomacy, and global trade. Schools will soon find themselves with absolutely no new language teachers left to recruit. Individual students will miss out on the enriching opportunities that come along with studying a foreign language and culture.
The hub model is a sustainable solution because it is win-win. Schools can continue to provide a subject on their curriculum with small numbers of students. Universities can target recruitment and outreach efforts better because the best local state school linguists have been assembled for them. Teachers can promise their 13 year old students that if they pick the GCSE, the A level pathway is guaranteed. Parents of aspiring linguists are reassured that language study can lead to a top university and interesting career contacts.
Language learning remains popular outside the classroom, making it a massive shame to deny it within our schools. Through local collaboration, we can keep the promise of language education alive.
