Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what language qualifications primary school teachers will be expected to have in order to teach the new foreign language curriculum.

There are no subject-specific entry requirements for entry to primary courses of initial teacher training (ITT). However, ITT entrants are required to satisfy a rigorous selection process, which is designed to assess their suitability to teach, and providers of ITT are required to ensure trainees can demonstrate a secure knowledge of the relevant subject(s) to deliver the curriculum which, in the case of primary trainees, includes teaching languages in primary schools.

Teaching of modern languages is already taking place in over 90% of primary schools. The Government is providing £1.8 million funding over two years for the continuous professional development of primary and secondary teachers in order to support the delivery of the new modern languages curriculum.