1. Address the EAL policy vacuum as a priority

Firstly, address the EAL policy vacuum and ensure EAL learners are visible in education policy initiatives. Why has this group been deprioritised? One reason for the lack of focus is the overreliance on aggregated data by policy makers. Looking at the data aggregated for EAL pupils hides more than it tells us. EAL pupils include a bilingual child of a wealthy French banker, and a refugee who might have no prior education or no first language literacy. In data terms, this would include some of the ethnic groups who achieve the highest attainment and some who achieve the lowest. Our research, commissioned with Unbound Philanthropy and the Education Endowment Foundation and undertaken by Oxford University, shows not only the significant differences between different ethnic groups but also crucially that it is proficiency in English that is the strongest determinant of attainment for the EAL cohort.

[Aggregate data] hides more than it tells us. EAL pupils include a bilingual child of a wealthy French banker, and a refugee who might have no prior education or no first language literacy.

EAL pupils are more than 20%, and rising, of the school population and schools need to meet the needs of newly arrived refugee communities. Previous Labour Governments gave priority to this issue with the “New Arrivals Excellence Programme”, an initiative designed to integrate newly arrived communities into schools. It is out of date now, but could be updated and made relevant for the current context, though the infrastructure to deliver it has mostly been dismantled, so this would need to be addressed through teacher training.

2. Reform Ofsted to include EAL in inspections

The Government has committed to reforming Ofsted. These reforms must ensure that inspecting EAL provision is included and prioritised. Anecdotally we hear about an increase in the use of unacceptable “withdrawal practices” in schools, with EAL pupils having reduced access to mainstream lessons; an approach contrary to EAL good practice. Such approaches were outlawed in the 1980s, after it was recognised that they did not contribute to an inclusive classroom, reinforcing an awareness of “difference”, and restricting access to important educational opportunities (Commission for Racial Equality, 1986). Guidance from the Department for Education on this would also help reinforce that this is unacceptable practice.

3. Assess English proficiency

The new Government must act on the research that shows that it is proficiency in English that has the greatest impact on EAL learners’ attainment and support schools to assess this. Proficiency in English for EAL pupils actually explains 4 to 6 times as much variation in achievement as gender, free school meals and ethnicity combined. Proficiency scales (present in all the devolved nations and in other English-speaking countries) were only briefly introduced between 2016 and 2018 in England and should be reintroduced, as well as support for teachers to formatively assess EAL learners. We have freely available resources on this, including the award-winning EAL Assessment Framework.

4. Maintain EAL resources in the school funding formula

In 2011, the removal of ring-fenced funding for supporting the integration of learners with English as an Additional Language led to the rapid loss of statutory support for EAL learners and very few EMTAS now remain. Nominally, this “EAL factor”[1] was retained and mainstreamed into the schools’ funding formula, but there has been a decline in the EAL factor in real terms, it is only funded for three years, and it is integrated into the ever decreasing schools funding pot, which has declined over this period[2]. The EAL factor in the schools funding formula should be maintained.

5. Include EAL children in early language support initiatives

The new Government has made a commitment in its manifesto to early language support and to oracy. Early language support is particularly important for EAL learners, as is preserving the child’s home language. Oracy skills development for children whose first language is English is not the same as oracy skills development for children for whom English is an Additional Language. Schools need to understand the distinctive nature of EAL and to train teachers. We will shortly be launching a more detailed briefing on this.

6. Support children with high needs arriving later into the school system

Evidence shows that it takes over six years to reach the academic proficiency required to pass exams. Put simply, it’s the difference between being able to function at a basic level in another language, and passing a chemistry exam.

...if you arrive later in the system and don’t have the language to access the curriculum, and you are too young for further education college, there may be little on offer. Some groups of learners, are falling through the system.

Data is clear that if you arrive in Reception as an EAL speaker and have the time required to gain full proficiency, you are likely to outperform your monolingual peers. But if you arrive later in the system and don’t have the language to access the curriculum, and you are too young for further education college, there may be little on offer. Some groups of learners, are falling through the system. Provision is needed in schools and/or colleges that enables pupils who arrive later to access a broad curriculum. Explore our new report examining the experience of young refugees arriving in the UK later into the education system, drawing on research with 400 individuals.

7. Teacher training and EAL

Training 6500 new teachers is one of the first steps promised by the new Government. Multilingual classrooms are now the norm, with over one in five children in schools speaking EAL. Yet teachers tell us they don’t feel prepared or supported to teach them. Training new teachers to work effectively with children who use EAL must be included in these initiatives. Teachers need more focus on EAL in initial teacher training and through continuing professional development.

We have a wide range of evidence-based training, resources, and guidance available, including free ITT modules to support trainee teachers on EAL and free self-study modules for ECTs.

Why listen to us and why act now?

Since 2011, the work that we have achieved alongside partner schools and local authorities is highly valued. We have trained more than 86,000 teachers, achieved key policy outcomes and become a leading voice on tackling language barriers faced by speakers of English as an Additional Language. During the past decade we have built our evidence base through world-class research, which we apply in everything we do. This has helped us develop the award-winning EAL Assessment Framework and to strike the right balance with our evidence-informed practice approach.

We’ll continue to be here for schools and partners, but we need system levers, and a drive and vision from the new Government to promote full integration and attainment of EAL learners.