The entitlement to Modern Foreign Languages at Key Stage 4:
Modern Foreign Languages is one of the four entitlement areas at Key Stage 4, alongside Arts, Design and Technology, and the Humanities.
The statutory requirements for the entitlement areas are as follows:
- Schools must provide access to a minimum of one course in each of the four entitlement areas.
- A course is a planned learning program with defined learning objectives, and its size and duration can vary. Different courses will offer diverse learning experiences.
- A course that fulfills the entitlement requirements must offer students the opportunity to obtain an approved qualification. This requirement underscores the importance and substance of the entitlement areas at Key Stage 4.
- “Approved qualifications” are external qualifications that have been sanctioned by the Secretary of State and are available at various levels. They are listed on the DfES website at www.dfes.gov.uk/section96.
- Schools must provide students with the opportunity to take a course in all four entitlement areas if they wish to do so.
- Schools are expected to go beyond the minimum requirement and, as they do currently, offer a range of courses. It is anticipated that most schools will provide at least two courses in each entitlement area. All schools should aim to offer as broad a selection as possible, either independently or in collaboration with others.
The Modern Foreign Languages Entitlement Area:
The Modern Foreign Languages entitlement area involves students in the following:
- Speaking and writing in a modern foreign language.
- Comprehending and responding to spoken and written materials in that language.
- Learning about the culture of countries or communities where the language is spoken.
To meet the entitlement requirements, schools must make available at least one course in an official language of the European Union (EU) that leads to a qualification approved under Section 96.
It’s important to note that other languages, including community languages, are acknowledged as valuable. Schools are encouraged to offer courses in languages other than EU languages, regardless of whether they were offered at Key Stage 3.
The official languages of the EU include Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, modern Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish. Currently, there are no qualifications approved under Section 96 for Czech, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Slovak, or Slovenian.
It’s worth noting that there is no longer a statutory program of study for Modern Foreign Languages at Key Stage 4. Instead, the text of the program of study for Key Stage 3 serves as non-statutory guidelines for the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages at Key Stage 4.